Arden Hills Nursing Home Fights Ruling of Maltreatment of a Resident by Minnesota Department of Health
An Arden Hills Nursing Home has been accused of neglect leading to the death of an elderly woman. Presbyterian Homes in Arden Hills was investigated by the Minnesota Department of Health after an incident in April 2008 where the a woman sustained a bump on her head leading to her eventual death. It was determined that the bump was as a result of a fall. After she was examined in the hospital it was determined that the woman had a fracture of her neck at the C2 vertebrae at the base of her skull.
After completing their investigation the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Health Facility Complaints determined that “maltreatment” had lead to her injuries and eventual death.
After learning of the MDH findings, Presbyterian Homes campus director calls this an “unfortunate incident,” and filed a letter asking the state to reconsider it’s finding of maltreatment, saying, “There is no substantial evidence as to the cause of injury.”
The letter also suggests the fracture could’ve been caused by an “accident,” not neglect or abuse. The report is now under state review.
For the rest of this story see: Arden Hills Nursing Home Fights Maltreatment Finding from Fox 9 News.
Pursuant to federal regulations a nursing home must ensure that the resident receives adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents. (42 CFR §483.25 (h))
(h) Accidents. The facility must ensure that—
(1) The resident environment remains as free of accident hazards as is possible; and
(2) Each resident receives adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.
• Once an event occurs such as a fall or unexplained injury the nursing home must conduct initially a comprehensive and accurate assessment of each resident’s functional capacity. (42 CFR § 483.20)
§ 483.20 Resident assessment.
The facility must conduct initially and periodically a comprehensive, accurate,
standardized, reproducible assessment of each resident’s functional capacity. (a) Admission orders. At the time each resident is admitted, the facility must have
physician orders for the resident’s immediate care.
(b) Comprehensive assessments—(1) Resident assessment instrument. A facility must make a comprehensive assessment of a resident’s needs, using the resident assessment instrument (RAI) specified by the State.
This website is not intended to provide legal advice as each situation is different and specific factual information must be obtained before an attorney is able to assess the legal questions relevant to your situation.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury or abuse in a nursing home or other care facility that serves the elderly in Minnesota , please contact our firm for a free consultation and information regarding the obligations of the facility and your rights as a resident or concerned family member. To contact attorney Kenneth LaBore, directly please send an email to klabore@prslegal.com, or call Ken at 612-767-7503.