Poor marks for nursing home
Nursing home cited for poor patient care, questionable billing
Operators of Florida nursing home where 8 died cited for poor care, dubious billing
Operators of a Hollywood, Fla., nursing home where eight elderly patients died after Hurricane Irma were criticized repeatedly by state and federal officials for falling short of federally mandated standards for patient care and for dubious billing practices at both the Hollywood facility and a nursing home in Miami.
Federal, state and local authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of the eight residents at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. Authorities evacuated dozens more residents from the nursing home this week. On Wednesday, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) announced it was temporarily closing the facility.
Physician Jack Michel and Larkin Community Hospital own the largest stakes in the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, according to government records. Michel has been in trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department accused Michel of endangering patients while serving in a top position the Oceanside Extended Care Center in Miami and charged Larkin with giving kickbacks to doctors who transferred patients to its hospital.
Michel did not return messages left at the hospital.
Inspection records as well as court documents show authorities have long raised concerns about the Hollywood facility’s patient care and billing practices.
In its most recent inspection, the Florida ACHA cited the nursing home for 11 health deficiencies. That was an improvement from the 2016 inspection, which found 17 infractions at the Rehabilitation Center. The agency fined the facility $5,500.
Those inspections led to its two-star, or below average overall rating, from the Center for Medi-
care & Medicaid Services.
During the February 2016 visit, inspectors were concerned about patients who appeared to be get-
ting little attention from staff.
Inspectors reported that a man identified as Resident #46 in the 2016 inspection report, had gone for days without a shave and had fingernails that were “long and jagged with the black substance remaining under the right hand fingernails and thick yellowish spongy substance under the left hand fingernails.”
The resident’s condition didn’t match the paperwork, which claimed he was receiving assistance with activities of daily living including shaving every shift.
And an inspector observed a female resident, identified as Resident #265, sitting staring at a
Annual inspection records and court documents show authorities have long raised concerns about the Hollywood facility.
blank television over three days of the inspection though officials wrote on their records that she was taking part in group activity.
In March, the Florida ACHA cited the Rehabilitation Center for failing to completely assess residents at least every 12 months, update the assessments every three months, and make sure those assessments are done by a qualified health professional.
The center failed “to make sure each resident has the right to have a choice over activities, their schedules and health care according to his or her interests, assessment, and plan of care,” the inspectors noted. They also faulted the nursing home’s nutrition and dietary programming for both its failure to meet each resident’s needs and its food safety and cleanliness standards.
The nursing home corrected the deficiencies within weeks of its latest inspection, according to follow-up reports.