Riverdale Rehabilitation & Care Center Legal Issues
A smaller, 146-bed nursing facility located at 641 West 230th Street, Bronx, NY 10463, Riverdale Nursing Home is operated by Riverdale Nursing Home Inc. and has been given an overall rating of two stars from the New York State Department of Health. Although the state agency has given the facility a three-star rating for its Quality of Care and Resident Status, glaringly, Resident Safety at Riverdale Nursing Home is only 1 Star. Additionally, Riverdale Nursing Home has been sued in a nursing home neglect lawsuit in the past.
Moreover, the New York State Department of Health has received 56 complaints related to the facility in the past three years. Although this is not a large number, the complaints were serious enough to lead to 9 on-site inspections and resulted in 4 citations. The facility was also cited for a total of 36 citations for standard health and life safety code violations.
A summary of the three most recent certification and/or complaint surveys is provided below, as well as the lawsuit against Riverdale Nursing Home.
Suspect Neglect? Call Brevda Law
At Brevda Law, our NYC nursing home abuse attorneys focus their practice on New York nursing home negligence litigation. This is all we do. Call us today for a free case consultation: 646-969-5855.
Lawsuits Filed Against Riverdale Nursing Home for Nursing Home Negligence
When a family feels their loved one is abused, ignored, injured or neglected in a long term care facility, New York law allows for a negligence lawsuit against the nursing home. The following case was filed against Riverdale Nursing Home alleging poor care, injuries and/or death.
Estate of Robert McGrier vs. Riverdale Nursing Home, et. al
Allegations: Robert McGrier resided at Riverdale in the Bronx for approximately four years. During that time, Mr. McGrier resided at Riverdale Nursing Home so that the facility could manage, supervise, safeguard and protect Mr. McGrier, particularly from suffering patient falls. It was alleged that Riverdale failed to follow appropriate rules, regulations, guidelines, procedures and policies which resulted in Mr. McGrier suffering severe personal injury.
Attorney Disclaimer
*Each case is different. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome or indicate an expected outcome on your particular case. The above prior lawsuit information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is not provided in the course of an attorney-client relationship and is not intended to substitute for legal advice from an attorney. This individual case information above is publicly filed information gathered from the publicly filed complaint. This information and these cases are not the work of this law firm. The contents of this website should not be construed as legal advice on any specific fact or circumstance. Your receipt of such information does not create an attorney-client relationship with this law firm or any of its lawyers. You should not act or rely on any of the information contained herein without seeking professional legal advice. Speak with an attorney immediately if you believe you have a viable case against a nursing home, assisted living facility or medical facility.
** Star ratings current as of 8-5-20. These ratings change frequently.
Inspections and Surveys Completed at Riverdale Nursing Home
Certification/Complaint Survey dated 10/10/2019 at Riverdale Nursing Home
During this certification and complaint survey, the surveyor noted that one resident was observed in bed, without his TV on, several times over the course of the survey. In one instance, he was observed in a Geri-chair in the Floor Day Room, but was faced away from the TV and there was no Therapeutic Recreation (TR) aide present. Although a concert was being conducted on the first floor main dining room, the resident was not present. His Comprehensive Care Plan (CCP) stated that he was severely cognitively impaired, but benefited from environmental and sensory stimuli. When questioned, the TR aide stated that she was only responsible for activities taking place in the Floor Day Room, but that she would sometimes turn on the TV for the resident. However, when the Activities Director attempted to turn on the TV, it would not turn on and appeared to be broken.
Another Riverdale Nursing Home resident was observed sitting during the lunch service; no sippy cup or regular cup was provided, although there was a cup of juice with a foil top. On another day, the resident had a blue sippy cup with one handle on the side. However, according to the resident’s CCP, he was supposed to be using a sippy cup with handles on both parts and that this was supposed to be used for all meals. The Food Services Director stated that these sippy cups break easily and that more needed to be ordered.
In addition, Riverdale Nursing Home was cited for its failure to provide appropriate behavioral health services to a resident who was observed screaming “get out! Get out!” to another resident who had wandered into her room. The resident’s CCP stated that nurses were to assist the resident to avoid other residents and discourage negative behaviors, and use other non-pharmacological approaches. The resident had a history of pushing another resident out of her room, causing that resident to fall. However, there was no documentation regarding that interaction and no behavioral care plan had been developed for this particular resident.
An infection control issue had also been identified as oxygen tubing for a particular resident was seen to be on the floor. Moreover, for three residents, no Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage Form was provided to the resident or his/her legal representative informing them of their potential to be held liable for payment. Furthermore, a resident was provided pain medication only 15 minutes prior to her pressure ulcers being redressed; the nurse did not wait the 30 minutes as ordered. Another resident was heard moaning and moving away from the nurse when treatment for her pressure ulcer was provided; when questioned, the staff stated that they do not do a pain assessment on this particular resident as she is highly combative when care is given. The physician stated that he did not prescribe any kind of pain medication until fairly recently because the nurses did not inform him that the resident was experiencing pain.
For another resident, his records indicated that he was exhibiting pain when in fact his behavior was as a result of impaired cognition. Moreover, two Geri-chairs were observed to be dirty or cracked; thus, the facility had not provided a safe, clean, home-like environment. Furthermore, not all staff members had received in-service training for Dementia care. The sign-in sheet was missing all the signatures of the Certified Nursing Assistants and Licensed Practical Nurses. Finally, a resident who was at high risk of developing pressure ulcers on his feet was observed barefoot or with socks on, and was not wearing protective heel floats that would prevent ulcers forming on his heels and the sides of his feet. Although the resident’s CCP stated that he should be wearing heel floats, none were on him and staff started that he is often non-compliant and kicks them off.
With regard to standard life safety code citations, it was unclear whether the facility had a compliant Type II electrical system, a circuit box in an exit stairwell should have been enclosed or removed, and fire hoses appeared very old, brittle, and were dated 7/90.
Complaint Survey dated 8/15/2019 at Riverdale Nursing Home
The Riverdale Nursing Home facility was cited for its failure to provide an environment free of accidents and hazards as a resident at risk of elopement was able to leave the facility and was later located at a nearby park. He was not harmed and appeared to have no recollection of what had occurred. The resident had slipped out of the facility between two visitors of another resident; when staff noticed he had not appeared for his 10:00 p.m. medication, and he could not be located, an alarm was raised and the police contacted.
To correct this deficiency, the facility took action to ensure that the resident was monitored more carefully.
Certification/Complaint Survey dated 1/11/2018 at Riverdale Nursing Home
The surveyor noted that a resident was only wearing a hospital gown and had no clothing in her closet. When the Director of Social Services was interviewed, she stated that no one had informed her that the resident had no clothing, despite donations being available to clothe her.
In addition, the facility was noted to be dirty and unkempt, with cracked paint and accumulated dust in resident rooms, broken drawers and closet doors, and dried juice and debris was observed on several tables.
Finally, the facility’s Emergency Preparedness program did not include a communication plan for sharing information with residents and their family members about the emergency plan.
Conclusion
Riverdale Nursing Home, despite being a smaller nursing home, has been cited for numerous violations that may pose a risk of danger to its residents. Additionally, the skilled nursing facility has faced civil litigation alleging breaches in care.
Past alleged failures include failure to implement appropriate elopement procedures led a resident wandering off the facility, residents were not given appropriate stimuli or adaptive tools to eat with.
If a loved one is a resident at Riverdale Nursing Home, or any other Bronx nursing home, and you suspect that they have suffered nursing home neglect or abuse, report the abuse to the State of New York and contact our law firm to learn more about your legal rights following a nursing home injury.
Free Case Consultation: 646-969-5855
