New York Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Sutton Park Center Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Westchester County, New York received the lowest possible rating from Medicare (one star out of five) based on a September 26, 2009 inspection. The New Rochelle facility was cited for failing to provide proper care to residents with feeding tubes and failing to provide services on par with professional standards of care. An incident that resulted in actual harm to a resident when the staff failed to ensure that the nursing home area was free from hazards was also reported.

Investigators cited Sutton Park for 47 total deficiencies. The state-wide average number of deficiencies is 24.

Staff Writers at the New York Daily News reported that between 2004 and 2008, New York State cited NYC hospitals 16 times for falsified, incomplete or missing medical records. Bellevue Hospital, Woodhull Hospital and Jacobi Medical Center were all cited over that period for "correcting" and/or simply "losing" medical records.

As we have reported previously on this site, the attorneys at Gallivan & Gallivan have represented victims of elder abuse and medical malpractice where health care providers have falsified records.

In fact, we were recently retained by a family in a nursing home matter where their family member passed away after suffering numerous falls and developing pressure sores. Our client passed away at the end of a 9 month admission. However, nurse's aides continued to document that the resident was toileted for five days after her death. In our view, this shows a blatant disregard for the welfare of patients, carelessness, and calls into question the integrity of the entire medical record.

Website Resources:

Hospital Records Were Sometimes Falsified to Cover Up Medical Mistakes; Daily News, Robert Gearty, Benjamin Lesser and Greg B. Smith, July 26, 2009.

A licensed nurse employed by Shore Winds Nursing Home in Rochester, New York has been arrested and charged with rape in the second degree (felony) and endangering the welfare of an incompetent (misdemeanor). The nurse, Kipper Allen Stevens, allegedly had sexual intercourse with a disabled resident. She was arraigned last week. Bail was set at $1500.

This story underscores the importance of proper screening of potential nursing home employees, as well as the importance of implementing timely and proper evaluations of current nursing home employees.

The attorneys at Gallivan & Gallivan are dedicated to protecting nursing home residents against elder abuse.

Website Resources:

Rochester nursing home employee charged with rape, RocNow, Victoria Freele, July 17, 2009.

Ramapo Manor Center For Rehabilitation, a Rockland County, New York nursing home, received an overall rating from Medicare inspectors of "much below average." As we have previously discussed on this site, Medicare rates all New York nursing homes based on three criteria:

1) Health Inspections;
2) Nursing Home Staffing; and
3) Quality Measures.

After these three areas are analyzed an overall score is awarded. Based on a November 10, 2008 inspection, the nursing home neglected to: a) follow written care plans, b) ensure that the nutritional needs of residents were met (which can lead to pressure sores - decubiti or bed sores), c) write and use policies forbidding abuse and neglect of residents, and d) ensure that the nursing home was free of dangers that can cause accidents such as falls. In addition, Ramapo received one out of five stars based on its staff (nurses, nurse assistants) to resident ratios.

In July 2004, an Erie County jury awarded plaintiffs, Thomas S. Kolbert and the Estate of Victoria Poielski, $1,500,000 in damages in a lawsuit brought under the New York Public Health Law for nursing home negligence. The plaintiffs alleged that Ms. Poielski, an 80 year-old resident suffering from dementia, fell while unattended in her bathroom and suffered a fractured right elbow.

Apparently, the resident was left alone on the toilet for a three hour period. When no staff member came to her assistance, she tried to move from the toilet to her wheelchair and suffered a fall. Pressure sores (bedsores, decubiti) also developed on her heels after the fall. The jury verdict was later reduced by the Appellate Division to $500,000.

A Georgia jury recently awarded $1,250,000 in a nursing home case to a plaintiff who suffered bedsores (pressure sores, decubiti), weight loss, infection, and eventually death while a resident. The plaintiff-decedent developed a Stage IV bedsore on her buttocks that progreesed to the point where it infected the bone. At trial, the plaintiff introduced evidence that the facility did not employ a sufficient number of nurses and/or nurse's aides in order to provide adequate care. Evidence was also introduced indicating that the facility's nurses failed to turn and position the decedent in proper intervals.

Gallivan & Gallivan provides aggressive, yet compassionate representation of victims of elder abuse and/or neglect. Please contact us if you or a loved one has suffered as a result of understaffing at nursing homes.

An Arizona jury awarded $11,000,000 in damages ($2,000,000 for the decedent, $5,000,000 for his widow, and $4,000,000 in punitive damages) in a case involving outrageous incidents of abuse perpetrated by employees at Liberty Manor Residence, an assisted living facility. The verdict is the highest reported amount awarded to a plaintiff in a case against an assisted living facility.

The plaintiff-decedent, a 36 year-old male, was in a coma after suffering a brain injury in a car accident. As a result, his wife placed him in an assisted living facility while she continued to work as a teacher. One evening, Mrs. Scherer received a call from Liberty Manor indicating that her husband was vomiting. She quickly drove to the facility and took him home. Upon arrival at their home, he began vomiting black material and passed away with his wife at his side.

An autopsy found paper towels, candy wrappers, and ketchup packaets in the plaintiff's stomach. The cause of death was mechanical obstruction of the gastrintestinal tract. In addition, the jury was shown evidence of the facility's false charting (the staff had documented that care was provided when Mr. Scherer was not present in the facility).

Gallivan & Gallivan, Attorneys at Law, represents individuals who have been injured as a result of abuse and/or neglect in assisted living and nursing home facilities. Please contact us if you or a loved one has suffered such an injury.

Gold Crest Care Center in the Bronx, New York was fined $18,712.504 for substandard nursing home care found during an August 28, 2008 inspection. The fine was levied by state inspectors for numerous deficiencies, including an immediate jeopardy finding (the most severe category).

A resident suffering from dementia with a history of wandering was allowed to walk out the front door of the nursing facility undetected. Inspectors found that a care plan for wandering was not properly implemented and that the nursing home staff failed to provide adequate supervision. The Gold Crest staff was to perform "visual checks" on the resident every hour. However, she went missing for three hours before reappearing at an area hospital.

Please contact the attorneys at Gallivan Gallivan if you or a loved one has fallen victim to elder abuse or neglect. .

Jurors awarded plaintiff Elaine Stinson $1.34 million in a California nursing home abuse and neglect case. The jury found that Leisure Palms nursing facility had recklessly neglected the plaintiff in failing to implement proper fall precautions. The plaintiff suffered three falls over a two month period, the last of which resulted in a punctured lung and three broken ribs.

In addition, after the fall, staff members placed the plaintiff back in her bed instead of sending the resident to the hospital and reporting the incident. In fact, Emergency Medical Services were not called at all by the Leisure Palms staff. Upon arrival the next morning, the plaintiff's husband called EMS once he saw his wife's condition. Surgery was performed that day at the hospital.

The breakdown of the verdict is below:
1) $88,000 for past medical bills,
2) $500,000 for pain and suffering, and
3) $750,000 in punitive damages.

Attorneys for the plaintiff have also filed a motion demanding attorney's fees, court costs and expert fees. Prior to trial, the Department of Social Services had investigated the family's complaints and cited Leisure Palms for its unsafe practices. Despite these findings, the nursing facility maintained that its staff members had acted appropriately. For more information regarding this important California verdict, please click here.

Glendale Home, a County run facility in Scotia, NY, was fined $20,800 for neglecting to toilet residents according to a Long-Term-Care Community Coalition report. When investigators interviewed residents at the facility, they were told horror stories about residents soiling themselves and/or evacuating their bowels/bladder in their beds or on the floor when calls for help were ignored.

Many of the residents and some staff members at the nursing home indicated that the facility was short-staffed, and as a result, was unable to provide proper care to residents. One resident recounted that "sometimes staff would become angry with me for calling out when they were so busy and tell me I would have to wait." The resident further explained that she often felt pain in her abdomen when no staff members responded to her calls.

Website Resources:

Nursing home fined for care lapses, Times Union, Lauren Stanforth, June 23, 2009.