DO YOU SUSPECT ABUSE OR NEGLECT? Contact Us for a Free Consultation

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This list contains the issuance of citations to Southern California nursing facilities by the California Department of Public Health over the last six months. All the citations listed are issued for reasons related to patient care. For verification of the citation, please contact the local department office or Walton Law Firm LLP.

<font size='2'Facility Date Citation
Los Angeles County Elder Abuse
Brighton Convalescent Center 05/23/08 Class B
Heritage Manor 03/7/08 Class B
Imperial Convalescent Hosp 03/26/08 Class B
Ramona Care Center 05/23/08 Class B
Studio City Rehabilitation Center 02/21/08 Class A
Villa Oaks Convalescent 06/23/08 Class B
Windsor Convalescent Long Beach. 05/22/08 Class B
Windsor Palms Artesia 05/23/08 Class A
Orange County
Evergreen Fullerton Healthcare 04/15/08 Class B
French Park Care Center 05/20/08 Class B
Kindred Healthcare of Orange 04/29/08 Class B
New Orange Hills 04/16/08 Class B
Parkview Healthcare 04/15/08 Class AA
Riverside County
Cypress Gardens 06/10/08 Class AA
San Diego County
Edgemoor Geriatric Hosp. 06/26/08 Class A
Cypress Gardens Rehabilitation 03/20/08 Class A
Lemon Grove Care & Rehab. 07/16/08 Class B
Villa Las Palmas 07/01/08 Class B
Vista Healthcare 04/11/08 Class B
Santa Barbara Nursing Home Neglect
La Cumbre Senior Living 07/24/08 Class B & A
Country Oaks Care Center 5/20/08 Class B

Class AA: The most serious violation, AA citations are issued when a resident death has occurred in such a way that it has been directly and officially attributed to the responsibility of the facility, and carry fines of $25,000 to $100,000.

Class A: Class A citations are issued when violations present imminent danger to patients or the substantial probability of death or serious harm, and carry fines from $2,000 to $20,000.

Class B: Class B citations carry fines from $100 to $1000 and are issued for violations which have a direct or immediate relationship to health, safety, or security, but do not qualify as A or AA citations.

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Elder Law and Advocacy in San Diego has been providing free legal services for seniors for 30 years, and was profiled in today’s San Diego Union Tribune. Whether it’s drawing up a will or a power of attorney, helping with a problem landlord, or answering questions about Medicare, Elder Law and Advocacy has assists several thousand San Diego County every year.

Walton Law Firm LLP has worked with Elder Law and Advocacy on cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect and can vouch for the organization’s dedication to the plight of senior citizens.

Carolyn Reilly is the executive director of Elder Law and Advocacy, and says that the demand for free legal services for the elderly is rising – keeping her eight lawyers busy – while the funding for those services remains slim. Elder Law operates on a tight budget, with the vast majority of its income coming from grants and individual contributions. This is a worthy organization that deserves the public’s support. It is well-known that a large part of our population is getting older, and organizations like Reilly’s will only become in greater demand.

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Nursing home residents have clearly defined rights when it comes to being transferred or discharged from a nursing facility, and may be evicted or moved under certain circumstances. Under California law, a nursing home may discharge or transfer a resident only if:

  1. the resident’s health has improved and is no longer need of skilled nursing services;
  2. the resident’s needs can no longer be met in the nursing home;
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The City of San Marcos has partnered with Cal State San Marcos to put on the Because I Care resource fair. The fair will be held September 6, 2008 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the San Marcos Senior Center located at 111 Richmar Ave., San Marcos, 92078.
The fair will hold 20 workshops on aging, family caregiving, and living healthy lives. Representatives from the Alzheimer’s Association, the Southern Caregivers Resource Center and the UCSD Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center will be there.

For more information, and the agenda for the day’s events, click here.

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A Laguna Hills nursing home faces its second lawsuit for elder abuse in three years for the neglect of one of its residents. In both cases the resident died.

Theresa Sperry died in July 2007 after a short stay a Villa Valencia in Orange County skilled nursing facility. The lawsuit alleges that with two weeks of admission, Sperry developed pressure ulcers on both of her heels that were left untreated, and worsened to the point of spreading to her muscles and exposing bone. The complaint also alleges that Villa Valencia was not adequately staffed to care for its residents.

Pressure ulcers (also called decubitus ulcers or bed sores) are a big problem in nursing homes. The Orange County nursing home neglect lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP have represented numerous nursing home residents who have developed very serious ulcers while under nursing home care. Most sores are a result of a combination of factors: poor nutrition, immobility, and neglectful treatment.

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Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of citizens age 65 and older will more than double from their current number of 38.7 million to 88.5 million in 2050. The population of 85 and older is predicted to triple in number to 19 million from 5.4 million during the same period.

At the same time, the “working age” population, i.e. those aged 18 to 64 is expected to decrease to 57% of the popoluation from 63% currently. What this means is that there will be fewer people available to care for more elders. Will this cause an increase in nursing home abuse and/or neglect?

As any attorney who represents elders in elder abuse or elder neglect cases against nursing homes will tell you, the number one direct cause of elder abuse is a lack of staffing. Most elder abuse does not occur because the caregivers want to abuse/neglect their residents. It occurs because there aren’t enough caregivers to perform all of the necessary tasks.

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A University of Chicago study reveals that approximately 13 percent of elderly Americans experience some sort of mistreatment. The most common form of abuse was verbal, experienced by 9 percent of elderly Americans, then financial mistreatment, experienced by 3.5 percent, and then physical abuse, reported by .2 percent of the elderly.

“The population of the country is aging, and people now live with chronic diseases longer. So it’s important to understand, from a health perspective, how people are being treated as they age,” said lead author Edward Laumann, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor in Sociology at the University of Chicago.

The study revealed variations in the abuse, depending on age and ethnicity, and females were twice as likely to report verbal mistreatment.

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Despite having the same odds at recovery, elderly trauma patients are being steered away from top trauma hospitals while younger patients are getting the better care. A new study finds emergency medical personnel are systematically discriminating against seniors. The study examined 10 years of data from ambulance trips in the state of Maryland and found that nearly half of all patients over 65 were not sent to designated trauma centers for care compared to only 18% of younger trauma victims.

 

Walton Law Firm LLP represents people who have been vicimized by elder abuse, elder neglect, mistreatment, and nursing malpractice. Cases are accepted in the counties of San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Imperial.

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Residential care facilities for the elderly are a largely unregulated in California. Despite the fact that they house more than 100,000 Californians, many with limited mobility, there is currently no requirement that they maintain disaster readiness plan other than a one-page disaster plan. That soon may change.

Last week the California State Senate voted to support a bill promoted by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk that would require care facilities for the elderly to prepare for emergencies such as natural disasters or power outages. Wolk’s bill requires a comprehensive plan for emergencies that enables a facility to be totally self-reliant for at least 72 hours. It would also require that the disaster plan be available for viewing by residents and local fire and police.

The bill, labeled AB 749, will be heard by the appropriations committee before debate on the assembly floor.

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Elder abuse lawyers have all seen cases of residents being evicted from nursing homes, or refused readmission, for dubious reasons. We sometimes call it Medi-Cal prejudice; that is residents being refused admission to a nursing home for no other reasons than they are Medi-Cal recipients.

One former client of our firm called a nearby nursing home hoping to find a room for her mother, who was about to be discharged from the hospital. The first question from the nursing home was whether her mother was receiving Medi-Cal. Medicare, or private pay. When the daughter told the nursing facility her mother received Medi-Cal, she was promptly told there were no available beds, but that her mother could be put on a waiting list.

Homeless.jpgBeing a nurse herself and believing there were available beds, the daughter called the same facility the following day to see if there was room for her mother. Using a different name, she again asked if there were available beds, and this time, after informing the nursing home her mother received Medicare, she was told there were several rooms available, and that the facility would be happy to provide a tour that afternoon.

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