Las Vegas adult group care home under fire

By Mary Manning

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 | 5:03 p.m.

A Las Vegas adult group care home has come under fire by state health investigators, who have banned admissions to the home and intend to issue sanctions.

The 150-bed licensed home, Chancellor Gardens of the Lake, came under state scrutiny in September when state inspectors heard complaints that residents were not receiving medications and staff threw medicines away because they did not have time to administer them to patients.

Staff members confirmed to the Nevada State Health Division's Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance that failing to administer medications and throwing them away were common practices, said Richard Whitley, administrator of the health division.

The staff also reported that every resident was missing one or more medications at the home, located at 2620 Lake Sahara Drive, which is south of Sahara and west of Durango Drive.

During the investigation, state inspectors learned three patients had been hospitalized after not receiving their prescription medicines.

The bureau staff sampled 23 residents and found that none had received their prescription medications, Whitley said.

While the home's administrators agreed to provide all medications through a pharmacy, the state continued to receive complaints in October involving the same issues. During the second investigation, 28 residents sampled had not received their prescribed medications, Whitley said.

The group home then agreed to have a physician examine all patients without a doctor and to supply missing medications. Two registered nurses have been hired to distribute the prescriptions and a consultant is on premises to assist them.

Since the investigation, Whitley said the executive director of Chancellor Gardens of the Lake has resigned and the administrator has been reported to her licensing board.

The state's action includes limiting all new admissions for a minimum period of 72 hours. The ban will be lifted when the home demonstrates that its practices have improved and deficiencies corrected, Whitley said.