The azstar.net reported that the Santa Rosa Care Center has been ordered to pay $17,500 in fines for more than two dozen violations that relate to patient safety. An April inspection by Arizona nursing home inspectors revealed the following problems:

The facility waited 10 days to tell a resident’s medical provider that the resident had suffered a seizure, fallen to the floor and was unconscious for about 10 minutes. The resident’s condition deteriorated after the seizure, state records show. He became increasingly confused and needed assistance to walk and eat. Doctors later determined he had intracranial bleeding from the fall.
A resident’s “do not resuscitate” directive was not correctly documented by staff.
One woman fell in the bathroom and was given Tylenol for ankle pain. It wasn’t until almost a full week later that the care center determined she had fractured her ankle, even though the woman said she told staffers that her pain was at least an 8 on a 10-point scale even with the Tylenol.
A nursing note indicated a man was discovered giving oral sex to a resident with a documented history of dementia on March 16. There was no notation that the second resident’s physician or family member was notified. The perpetrating resident had a history of “sexually inappropriate behaviors,” state records say.
One staff member said that if residents’ don’t object or resist, staffers consider sexual activity between two residents to be consensual. When asked if the resident’s ability to consent was assessed, the staff member said no.
Multiple, alert residents from four or five sections of the facility complained of urine odors at all times of the day; visitors to the facility also complained about an odor.
A staff member who was helping to put a resident into a wheelchair made an unkind remark about the resident’s leg being heavy. State rules say residents in licensed facilities “have the right to be treated with respect and dignity.”
Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid agreed with state health inspectors that a “substandard quality of care” was being provided at Santa Rosa and suspended Medicare payments until Santa Rosa made the corrections. The federal government also required the care center to pay fines of $7,000.

According to state records, the 144-bed nursing homes has taken corrective steps and improved staff training. Realistically, if the same employees and same administrator are still in place, how much change can really take place in six months? For the sake of the residents, I certainly hope the facility has turned the corner with respect to patient care. The Nursing Home Law News will continue give readers updates on the Santa Rosa Care Center.

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