Stunned by Littleton nursing home’s continued failures

The disclosure that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined four area nursing homes for coronavirus-related violations shouldn’t be too surprising, since OSHA found nearly 300 long-term-care facilities nationwide similarly deficient.

However, given the notoriety one national nursing-home chain received for its failure to protect its clients and staff at the outset of this epidemic, we’re astounded by the timing of these sanctions.

Three of the four facilities fined fall under the Life Care Centers of America corporate umbrella —

Life Care Centers of Littleton, Leominster and Merrimack Valley — along with CareOne at Lowell, according to OSHA.

These fines were the result of inspections conducted in October (Life Care Center of Littleton), November (Life Care Center of the Merrimack Valley) and December (Life Care Center of Leominster).

Back in April, it was reported that a Littleton Life Care Center staff member had died from the virus.

Nurse Maria Krier of Lunenburg, who blew the whistle on the dire conditions at the Littleton facility, paid the ultimate price, herself succumbing to COVID-19.

The National Guard was summoned to conduct COVID-19 testing at the nursing home, where tragically 24 residents also died from the virus.

That initiated a probe into possible civil and criminal violations at Life Care Center of Littleton by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office at a time when local and state officials were calling for increased government oversight at nursing homes statewide.

“My office is investigating Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley’s (the Littleton facility’s corporate name) response to the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility to determine if legal action is warranted,” Healey said in a May statement disclosing the existence of the ongoing probe. “We owe it to the families who lost loved ones under these tragic circumstances to determine what went wrong.”

So now, more than the seven months after the tragedy unfolded and at least six months into the AG’s investigation, OSHA discovers that Life Care Center of Littleton still doesn’t have its house in order?

That’s beyond our comprehension.

Even with two proven vaccines and the promise of more, we’re still in throes of this pandemic, and will be for months to come.

Strapped nursing homes already face staff shortages, and that could be exacerbated by these OSHA disclosures.

As might be expected, OSHA found similar shortcomings at the three Life Care Centers. All three were fined $13,494 apiece — at this late date — for failing to develop a comprehensive written respiratory protection program for their employees.

Littleton Life Care Center was also penalized $5,500 failing to notify OSHA within 24 hours of an employee death, as was CareOne at Lowell, which accrued the most monetary punishment — $25,061 – including $13,494 for likewise failing to develop a comprehensive written respiratory protection program for its employees.

Each of the Life Care Centers and CareOne disagree with the OSHA findings, and have contested the violations and fines.

Efforts to reach the Life Care Centers for comment on the OSHA fines were unsuccessful.

We hope Attorney General Healey will consider these workplace failures uncovered by OSHA in determining the Littleton facility’s ultimate culpability in failing to protect both the residents in their care and the staff who served them.