State bureau cites three nursing homes for violations

Art Nadler

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1998 | 11:07 a.m.

Three nursing homes have been cited for numerous violations, the state Bureau of Licensure and Certification has reported.

This is the fifth time this year that the Cheyenne Residential and Nursing Center, 2860 E. Cheyenne Ave., had violations. Eight complaints were investigated in September that included, in part: a man receiving unscheduled insulin, residents being verbally abused by a certified nurse assistant (CNA) and failure to access residents' medical needs.

The center had been fined $50 a day and was prohibited from taking new Medicaid patients following an investigation in May. But after another survey in July in which improvements were made, the fines were repealed.

There were 222 residents in the facility at the time of the fifth survey.

Eight complaints also were investigated at the Cheyenne Care Center, 2856 E. Cheyenne Ave. This is a skilled-nursing facility.

The Oct. 8 survey revealed that: residents' call lights were not answered in a timely manner, wooden handrails were gouged out and splintery, residents complained of high noise levels and one resident's wheelchair had a one-inch high cluster of cereal stuck to it for some time.

A resident who fell and lacerated her head was later observed, according to the bureau's report, with her head hanging forward and one arm hanging down toward the floor.

There were 92 residents in the facility at the time of the survey.

Lisa Jones, a health facilities surveyor with the Bureau of Licensure and Certification, said the Cheyenne Care Center has had 90 days from Sept. 11 to come into compliance. The Cheyenne Residential Residential and Nursing Center was given 90 days from Sept. 2.

The Las Vegas Healthcare and Rehabilitation facility, 2832 S. Maryland Parkway, had 73 residents at the time of its survey. It was cited on July 1 and has gone past its 90 days to come into compliance.

Sonya King, a health facilities surveyor, said the bureau is recommending to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that the nursing home be fined.

According to its Oct. 18 survey, employees at Las Vegas Healthcare and Rehabilitation, in part: restrained a woman in a wheelchair without her physician's orders, left another woman saturated in her own urine by not changing her diaper and failed to provide housekeeping.

One resident, who fell, said she didn't use a call light because it took too long for care givers to respond.

All three facilities, according to the survey results, agreed to correct the violations.

Jones said that closing the nursing homes might only escalate problems with the elderly and their families.

When the Henderson Glen Halla Health Care Center closed a few years ago, Jones said nearly half of its residents died in what she called "transfer trauma."

"Closure is the last thing we want to talk about," Jones said. "We will constantly see deficiencies because we are taking a setting these people are used to and placing them in a setting that has to accommodate everyone's needs."

Jones said the Bureau of Licensure and Certification prefers to identify problems and educate nursing home employees on how to improve them.

President Clinton encouraged this in July when he asked state agencies to inspect nursing homes on a frequent and random basis.