DOJ settles with South Carolina nursing home
The Associated Press had an article about the settlement between the lame duck Bush Administration Department of Justice and C.M. Tucker, Jr. Nursing Care Center run by the State of South Carolina. There is also one in the Free Times. If you recall, the Free Times ran the article titled Death at C. M. Tucker almost a year ago and has followed the investigation from the start. Here are some of the facts of the settlement.
A South Carolina agency and the federal government have reached a settlement eight months after the Justice Department accused a state-run nursing home of providing inadequate care to residents. Many of which led to injuries and death. The settlement was a compromise, and an ugly deal made between Bush outgoing DOJ and SC. The settlement avoids litigation (and avoids further scrutiny and embarassment). The settlement requires the nursing home to start programs for training, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation requirements. It requires staff to pay close attention to patients’ weight, food intake, pressure sores and pain management, and all deaths must be reported to the federal agency. (All of these things should have been done before).
The agreement follows a scathing, detailed report issued by the Justice Department. This facility is home to 360 residents, including 70 veterans, in three buildings. Many of have severe physical or mental impairment. The investigation was conducted in fall 2006 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. Most Tucker residents' care was paid by Medicaid. The May report called the facility a “nursing home of last resort for hundreds of patients with long-term psychiatric illnesses.”
Among the findings, it accused caregivers of not identifying or addressing patients’ swallowing disorders. In one example, it said a 59-year-old man died four weeks after being diagnosed with a lung infection caused by inhaling food or liquid. The report said swallowing problems may have contributed, as the man lost 20 percent of his body weight over four months because he was unable to chew and ingest safely. Other issues include not regularly turning and repositioning patients to avoid bed sores, not giving dying patients enough pain medication, improper nutrition, not doing enough to prevent falls that cause injury, inadequately investigating accusations of abuse, and unsanitary conditions.
