Lady Lake Specialty Care Center Nursing Home Neglect Allegations

Lady Lake Specialty Care Center Lawsuits and Citations

Lady Lake Specialty Care Center is a for-profit, 145-bed nursing home that has been owned by Lady Lake NH, LLC since May 2011. It is currently managed by Greystone Healthcare Management Corporation and is located at 630 Griffin Avenue, Lady Lake, Florida 32159. Our law firm has substantive experience suing Greystone for nursing home abuse and neglect.

The facility has been fined twice by the State of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) since ownership changed; once in 2014 for $500 and again in 2018 for another $500. The first fine was due to the facility’s failure to ensure that all staff underwent appropriate background checks. The second fine, imposed in 2018, was due to the facility’s late submission of an adverse incident report.

In addition, the facility has been cited several times by AHCA for its failure to comply with state and federal regulations. The most recent citations are summarized below.

Lady Lake Specialty Care Center 12/30/2020 Inspection Results

The facility was not cited in this complaint survey.

Lady Lake Specialty Care Center 1/8/2020 Inspection Results

The facility failed to follow infection control protocol and did not sanitize a stethoscope after examining a resident.

Complaint Statement of Deficiencies dated 10/16/2019 at Lady Lake Specialty Care Center

According to this survey, a resident’s soiled bedding was changed improperly, with the soiled bedding being placed on the resident’s overbed table on a single layer of a brown paper towel. After removing the soiled bedding, which left the resident without anything between the resident and the exposed bed, the Licensed Practical Nurse failed to change her soiled gloves when applying the clean bedding. The LPN stated that she had not followed procedure as she was nervous.

Standard Statement of Deficiencies dated 1/30/2019 at Lady Lake Specialty Care Center

In this survey, AHCA found several residents were unshaven with long fingernails and toenails that had not been cut. The facility stated that faces shaven when residents are showered and one resident did appear clean shaven after receiving his shower. However, his fingernails appeared long and jagged and no care was provided; a nurse stated that the resident will be put on the podiatry list as the podiatrist visits every Friday.

Another resident had received occupational therapy and treatment until he had met his short-term goals, then was discharged to the facility restorative nursing program for continued care. His medical records stated that at that restorative nursing program, that he was to receive a hand splint.  The resident’s therapy log included an “Adaptive Equipment/Split/Brace Tracking log” but the resident stated that he had never received a hand splint at any time. An employee confirmed that the resident did not have a splint when he participated in the program. The Director of Rehabilitation was unable to explain why there were entries regarding a splint when none had been provided to the resident.

With regard to residents’ dietary choices, one resident was observed to be at risk of anorexia, and had not eaten his breakfast as it came served with gravy. He had indicated that he did not like gravy on any of his meals. Residents at Lady Lake Specialty Care Center are usually asked to indicate what alterations they would like to make to scheduled meals, however, the resident had not completed his menu for that week. Although follow ups are usually made, none was done for that particular resident.

Finally, the survey found that that kitchen was not kept clean, with built up debris on the coffee machine, oven decks, spice cupboard, and sugar bin. There was also uncovered, undated hamburger in the refrigerator. In addition, the dumpster lids were not closed and there were used nursing gloves observed on the ground.

Standard Statement of Deficiencies dated 10/26/2017 at Lady Lake Care Center

The surveyor found that one resident had lost her denture partial and had asked the laundry staff if they had found it. Although the facility’s policy was that the supervisor should be notified regarding any missing items, the laundry staff did not inform her supervisor as the supervisor was not working that day. In addition, a grievance form should have been filled out by any staff member regarding the loss of the denture partial, but had not been.

Moreover, a staff member was observed entering a resident’s room without knocking. This conduct was found to fail to ensure the resident’s dignity was respected as required by law.

The survey also found that there was a lack of housekeeping and maintenance, with wash basins and bed pans found under the sink, not under the beds as required. In addition, several rooms had discolorations, holes, or wall paper lifting or paint peeling.

Furthermore, another resident who was a noted to be at risk for falls was observed in bed, and the bed was approximately at mid-thigh height of the surveyor. The staff did not appear to be aware of the resident’s fall risk and the Director of Nursing later confirmed that the “low position” required for residents who are fall risks is at knee height.

Yet another resident was observed with very dirty fingernails and debris in and around her nails.

An observation of the kitchen, there was a black substance on the splash bar above the ice. During the lunch meal service, one staff member was observed to be serving soup, leaning her hands on wheelchairs, rubbing resident’s backs, rubbing her eyes, and then returning to serving soup without first washing or sanitizing her hands.

The surveyor also noted that one resident had lost her dentures and had requested that she be able to see the dentist. The facility usually documented when residents or their families requested a dental appointment, but no such documentation could be located for this particular resident as normal procedures had not been followed.

With regard to medication storage, a box was observed on a table in the nurse’s station. The box contained medications for residents, individually wrapped and marked with the name and room number of residents. At that time, no staff were observed in the nurse’s station and the box was left open. After some inquiry, it was learned that a nurse had received the medications but had run down the hall to check on the lunch trays and had left the medicine temporarily unattended. In addition, medication was observed on a resident’s bedside table. The resident stated that the nurses had left the medications there, although the nurses confirmed later that medication should be kept in the medication cart and not at bedside tables.

Sanitation issues were also discovered in this survey. A housekeeper was observed putting a mop head back into a plastic bag with his bare hand, then attempted to enter another resident’s room without first washing his hands. In the laundry room, an aide was also observed to be folding gowns and sheets by pressing them lightly to her body while dragging it on the floor. It was confirmed that the employee should not let linens or personal items touch their clothing or uniform.

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