Need Legal Help Following a Staten Island Nursing Home Injury? We are Here for You
If your family member was abused or neglected inside a Staten Island nursing home, take action today. There is no justification for patient falls, bed sores, unreported fracture injuries or wrongful death. Secure a Staten Island nursing home abuse attorney who specifically focuses on these kinds of lawsuits against negligent nursing homes.
Speak With an Attorney Now Regarding your Staten Island Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawsuit
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Senior Justice Law Firm
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646-969-5855
NYC nursing home abuse is our firm focus. This is what we do. Let our compassionate and skilled attorneys help you on your journey to justice.
Staten Island Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect
On August 26, 2019, City Limits reported on New York City’s nursing home staffing storages. The publication pointed out that residents at the worst-staffed facilities end up receiving abusive or negligent care. One resident’s bedsore developed into severe gangrene that necessitated the removal of most of his bowel. Another resident was forced to sit in a soiled diaper for hours. Yet another resident was restrained so tightly he stated that he felt as if he was “trapped in bed.” The article pointed out that “[r]esidents in understaffed nursing homes are more prone to bedsores, malnutrition, and falls… residents who need assistance may not get help for hours.”
Staten Island’s nursing facilities have experienced a similar decline due to poor staffing and supervision. The fifth and southernmost borough of New York City, Staten Island has a population of approximately 486,730, with 16.2% of that population consisting of individuals 65 years of age or older. It is no surprise that there are a number of nursing homes in the borough. Unfortunately, not all of these facilities have a track record of providing adequate care to its residents.
Physical Abuse in Staten Island Long Term Care Facilities
In 2011, an EMT observed a staff member hitting a developmentally disabled resident on the head multiple times at the Lily Pond Nursing Home. The resident raised his hands to attempt to protect himself from the blows. When the nurse supervisor was informed, she asked that the EMT not report the incident to protect the staff member. It was later uncovered that that particular nurse supervisor had had her license suspended twice prior to the incident. In February 2004, she had received a 24-month suspension, with 23 months stayed, two years’ probation and fined $250 for failing to document a patient fall and not having the patient treated for the fall. Two years later, in September 2006, her license was again suspended for three months with 21 months stayed, placed on three years’ probation and fined $750. This was for giving a resident the wrong dose of Percocet, a painkiller. She was still able to find employment as a nurse supervisor despite these incidents. A year later, Lily Pond Nursing Home decided to close.
Staffing Concerns in Staten Island Nursing Homes
The same year Lily Pond Nursing Home closed, another Staten Island nursing home came under new ownership. The St. Elizabeth Ann’s Health Care & Rehabilitation Center was renamed the Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare and its new owners promptly laid off 55 of its 60 registered nurses, “in an apparent cost-cutting move.” The New York State Nurses Association expressed concern regarding the level and amount of care each resident at the 120-bed facility will be able to receive with so few registered nurses available. Unsurprisingly, the New York Department of Health website shows that the facility received a whopping 319 complaints in the past three years. However, while 45 inspections were conducted in connection with these 319 complaints, only one resulted in a citation.
Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare’s most recent complaint citation, dated April 29, 2019, shows that the facility allowed a resident to elope due to inadequate supervision. The resident returned to his family’s home, where he was eventually picked up by the facility. A review of the facility’s enforcement history also shows that it has been fined four (4) times since 2012, for a total amount of $42,000. This is a rather high amount as many fined facilities are not required to pay more than $500, even when issued a fine. Richmond Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare was most recently fined on September 11, 2017 for failing to properly investigate a resident’s unexplained black eye.
Less Staff = More Nursing Home Injuries
Fewer staff at nursing homes not only leads to negligent care or abuse, but can also lead to staff cutting corners in order to attempt to meet the needs of residents under their care. This is evident in the fact that many facilities are cited for not following sanitation procedures, which require multiple hand washings and glove changes for each stage of wound care and management. Often, staff will fail to wash their hands prior to donning new gloves, which increases the risk of infection.
Without enough registered nurses and licensed practical nurses on hand, nursing homes may continue to take shortcuts with a vulnerable population.
Take a Stand: Speak with a Staten Island Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Today
Staten Island nursing homes are not immune to owners’ desires to cut costs to make a larger profit, and the effect of such practices is often that residents suffer from poor care as it is nearly impossible for a handful of nurses to care for an entire facility of residents. These cost-cutting measures place residents at risk, yet can easily be prevented if companies are willing to appropriately staff facilities.
So how can you make a difference?
Many state investigators are overworked, underfunded and underpaid. Sadly, many state agency investigations go nowhere because of the lack of resources. This means, if your family member was a victim of nursing home negligence in Staten Island, you should do something to make sure the harm does not happen again.
Report the nursing home to the State of New York. After that, contact the attorneys at Senior Justice Law Firm to investigate your potential Staten Island nursing home abuse lawsuit. Our lawyers focus on nursing home and assisted living facility injury and death cases. Let our experience help maximize your case.
Before negligent care snowballs into a serious injury, or death, we encourage you to contact our Staten Island nursing home abuse attorneys if you believe you or a loved one has experienced nursing home neglect or abuse in Richmond County.
We are here to help you pick up the pieces after a preventable injury occurs inside a long term care facility. Receive your free Staten Island nursing home neglect lawsuit evaluation today by calling our law firm at 646-969-5855 or by chatting with us in the chat box below.
