Federal regulators have put Piety Corner Nursing Home on a watch list of 131 nursing homes nationwide that have had serious problems with patient care. Here is an an article in The Daily News Tribune detailing problems at the facility:
By Kerri Roche/Daily News staff
GHS
Thu Feb 14, 2008, 12:45 AM ESTA Waltham nursing home was recently added to a list of 131 facilities deemed by the federal government to have serious problems involving patient care.
Piety Corner Nursing Home, a 34-bed facility at 235 Bacon St., will undergo government reviews more frequently and with greater thoroughness since it was added to a list from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of “special focus facilities.”
The most recent list, released to the public this week, has grown since its November inception, said Helen Mulligan, spokeswoman for the Boston office of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Piety Corner was added because “there’s been some type of pattern over a number of years,” said Mulligan.
Nursing home owner Jane Galatis said she and her staff are working hard to fix problems.
Since 2004, Mulligan said, the nursing home’s efforts to fix shortcomings would fluctuate. After violations were issued one year, certain problems would improve but then return the following year, said Mulligan.
At the end of 2006, Piety Corner was reviewed and cited for more than two dozen violations, eight of which were classified as putting patients in actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
At that time, the home was cited for failing to make sure each resident who enters the facility without a catheter is not given one unless it is deemed necessary.
Also, Piety Corner routinely failed in areas intended to prohibit abuse and neglect; enhance and promote quality of life; and uphold housekeeping and maintenance service, Mulligan said.
During routine surveys, the center was also cited for failure to adequately inform residents, family and doctors of accidents or significant changes in patients’ care. The staff also was not producing comprehensive assessments or developing care plans while providing the necessary services.
At the beginning of 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also noted several areas, some of which include repeat violations, still of serious concern, Mulligan said.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also investigated and substantiated six complaints lodged against the center in 2005. In two isolated incidents, the facility used physical restraints when not warranted for medical treatments and did not provide enough fluids to keep residents properly hydrated, the complaints said.
After receiving other complaints in 2005, the government found the nursing home was not free of accident-causing dangers and did not quickly inform a resident’s doctor of lab test results.
From 2005 to 2006, the center paid more than $8,000 in fines, said Mulligan.
One of the co-founders of a national patients’ advocacy group, Member of the Family, Dennis Steele said, “I can’t believe this home is still open.”
Based upon his reading of previous reports, he said, “They don’t even provide clean bed and bath linens.”
Also of concern, said Steele, is staffing. During the home’s November 2006 review, staffing was lower than normal.
“Whenever you look at nursing homes and their staffing hours are below the state average, you can almost expect to find a problem,” said Steele. “Unfortunately in American life, you know, payroll is one of the only variables a company can control.”
Also, said Steele, the center was repeatedly cited for failing to provide access to a copy of its most recent governmental review.
“Nursing homes are required to keep the most recent survey available for anyone who asks. … That’s (Piety Corner’s) number one repeat violation.”
Piety Corner owner Galatis, who is also director of nurses, said previous reports don’t chronicle the recent changes made at the facility.
Staff members has been working to improve the facility. The inclusion on a recently released list “is the result of survey that was done a year ago,” said Galatis.
In a press release, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says that in November 2007 the government first published a list of nursing homes that failed to improve significantly after being provided with substantial time and opportunities to do so. At that time, Piety Corner had not made the list.
Piety Corner was reviewed again at the beginning of this year, said Galatis. Although those results are not yet available, “We were told that we were greatly improved by the surveyors.”
Galatis said, “We’re taking great pains to be an improved and better facility.”
Since receiving poor reviews, the nursing home has changed many members of its staff, including the administrator and director of nurses, she said.
“We’ve made physical improvements. We have a great staff,” said Galatis. “I’ve since been the director of nurses, therefore I’m much more involved and hands on.”
In order to be removed from the government’s list, said Galatis, a center must receive satisfactory reviews on three consecutive surveys.
If the home’s most recent survey went as she hopes, Galatis said Piety Corner will be removed after a January 2009 survey.
Although she is not in a position to recommend certain facilities over others, Council on Aging Director Mary Beth Duffy said she is not shocked to learn a nursing home that relies on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements is struggling to provide quality care.
The problem with nursing homes like Piety Corner, she said, extends far beyond the institution’s walls.
“As a hospital social worker for 20 years, I have been surprised that many nursing homes can really do justice based on the fact that their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements have been historically so low,” said Duffy.
With very little money coming in, the staff at many nursing homes providing direct care and handling some of the industry’s hardest jobs are paid the lowest salaries, said Duffy.
“Until nursing homes get funded appropriately, they will struggle with providing quality care. My experience with Piety Corner over the years is they have tried very hard to do a good job,” said Duffy.
Like many others, Piety Corner relies heavily on the government dollar, said Duffy.
