In my last post I mentioned South Village Health and rehabilitation in Raleigh. It is a SanStone property. I found where they had been fined almost $300,000.00 by the CMS. The information can be seen on Medicare.gov, nursing home compare website. Although it shows the fines, there is no information as to what they were fined for.
I contacted Beverley Speroff, the Division Chief of the North Carolina Division Health Service Regulation (NCDHSR). I asked Ms. Speroff why I could not find the fines on their "list of facilities with fines" page. Ms Speroff replied that the fines were imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and would not show on the NCDHSR page.
What it looks like to me is that the NCDHSR does the investigations, but they dont impose the fines. It appears that the CMS Imposes the fines, based on the NCDHSR Investigations. If thats the case it seems they should both post the information. How can the average citizen looking for a nursing home possibly figure this out? How many Government websites do you have to visit to get the whole picture?
Here is the link for the inspection results from the NCDHSR
http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/facilities/facility.asp?fid=923549
Here is the Medicare.gov (CMS) link. You can click on the penalties tab and see the fines. But there is no explanation. You can also click on the investigations tab and see the latses inspections, none of which explain the penalties.
http://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/profile.html#profTab=4&ID=345137&Distn=2.7&loc=ROCKY%20MOUNT%2C%20NC&lat=35.9382103&lng=-77.7905339
This system is definately not working. It is set up to be confusing, and without extensive research makes no sense at all. There is no useful information from the State (NCDHSR) or the Federal (CMS) website. Together, they make a little more sense but still not completely accurate. The information on both sites is not updated frequently enough to make an educated decision on what homes are good or bad.
Not only is all of the above an issue, but they can kill people and still operate. All they have to do is pay the fine, and that is a worst case scenario. In most cases, they are written up by the NCDHSR and the deficiencies are majically corrected. Could this be a result of Governor McCrory's appointed leader of the NCDHSR? Does Governor McCrory personally have money invested in the nursing home industry, or just his friends and contributors? Either way it is obvious that the owners of these places have no fear of any repercussions resulting from their mistakes, even when they result in death.
I have researched many different nursing homes, most are chains run by shell corporations and managed by other shell companies. They change the names of the corporations like I change my socks. It is almost impossible to keep up with them. An example would be Beystone, a SanStone property, there is Beystone and then there is Beystone new company. This is from the NC Secretary of State Corporations page. I drove by their listed address and it is a FedEx office on Airport road in Arden. It all seems so sketchy simply because it is. These people know how to work the system and if they dont, they just pay someone to change it.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
SanStone Health and Rehabilitation , True lack of passion revealed!!
I keep seeing those damn commercials " SanStone It's our passion that makes the difference". Well today I decided to do some research on SanStones supposed passion. I went to Medicare.gov, the site that rates nursing homes. Each home is evaluated and given a star rating, the ratings don't seem to reflect the NCDHSR inspections, so that part is still a mystery. The star rating is, one for the lowest, and five for the highest. Anyway here is a list of SanStone properties and their star ratings as of today.
Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection in 2014 with five deficiencies .
BeyStone Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with no deficiencies found ?
StoneCreek Health and Rehabilitation 5 stars : One inspection with three deficiencies.
Anson Health and Rehabilitation 2 stars : One inspection with three deficiencies .
Madison Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
Oak Forest Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
Sanford Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
South Village Health and Rehabilitation 1 star : One inspection with no deficiencies . Three complaint investigations with three deficiencies resulting in resident death!
Now here is a list of deficiencies at SanStone properties. Take notice of the violations concerning administration and storage of drugs.
1. Failure to : Conduct initial and periodic assessments of each residents functional capacity.
2. Make sure services provided by the nursing facility meet professional standards of quality.
3. Provide necessary care and services to maintain the highest well being of each resident.(3)
4. Make sure that all resident's drug regimen is free of unnecessary drugs.
5. each residents entire drug regimen is managed and monitored to achieve highest well being.
6. Make sure all residents are safe from serious medication errors.
7. Give each resident a notice of rights, rules, services, and charges.
8. Maintain drug records and properly label drugs according to accepted professional standards.(2)
9. Keep accurate, complete, organized clinical records on each resident that meet professional standards.
10. Store, cook and serve food in a clean way. (3)
11. Immediately tell the resident, doctor, and a family member of any situation affecting resident.(3)
12. Provide housekeeping and maintenance services.
13. Allow the resident the right to participate in the planning or revision of the residents care plan. (2)
14. Try to resolve each residents complaints quickly.
15. Reasonably accommodate the needs and preferences of each resident.
16. Keep medication errors to less than 5%.
17. Give resident proper treatment to prevent new pressure sores or heal existing pressure sores. (2)
18. Safely provide drugs and other similar products available, which are needed every day and in emergencies by a licenced pharmacist.
19. Assist those residents who need total help with eating, drinking, grooming, and personal and oral hygiene.
In one of the cases at South Village , the resident actually died.
Is that what sets SanStone apart from other homes? " Passion, that's what makes the difference." Maybe if the spent their money on staffing their properties instead of advertising and sponsoring events, they could actually provide adequate care.
Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection in 2014 with five deficiencies .
BeyStone Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with no deficiencies found ?
StoneCreek Health and Rehabilitation 5 stars : One inspection with three deficiencies.
Anson Health and Rehabilitation 2 stars : One inspection with three deficiencies .
Madison Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
Oak Forest Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
Sanford Health and Rehabilitation 3 stars : One inspection with four deficiencies .
South Village Health and Rehabilitation 1 star : One inspection with no deficiencies . Three complaint investigations with three deficiencies resulting in resident death!
Now here is a list of deficiencies at SanStone properties. Take notice of the violations concerning administration and storage of drugs.
1. Failure to : Conduct initial and periodic assessments of each residents functional capacity.
2. Make sure services provided by the nursing facility meet professional standards of quality.
3. Provide necessary care and services to maintain the highest well being of each resident.(3)
4. Make sure that all resident's drug regimen is free of unnecessary drugs.
5. each residents entire drug regimen is managed and monitored to achieve highest well being.
6. Make sure all residents are safe from serious medication errors.
7. Give each resident a notice of rights, rules, services, and charges.
8. Maintain drug records and properly label drugs according to accepted professional standards.(2)
9. Keep accurate, complete, organized clinical records on each resident that meet professional standards.
10. Store, cook and serve food in a clean way. (3)
11. Immediately tell the resident, doctor, and a family member of any situation affecting resident.(3)
12. Provide housekeeping and maintenance services.
13. Allow the resident the right to participate in the planning or revision of the residents care plan. (2)
14. Try to resolve each residents complaints quickly.
15. Reasonably accommodate the needs and preferences of each resident.
16. Keep medication errors to less than 5%.
17. Give resident proper treatment to prevent new pressure sores or heal existing pressure sores. (2)
18. Safely provide drugs and other similar products available, which are needed every day and in emergencies by a licenced pharmacist.
19. Assist those residents who need total help with eating, drinking, grooming, and personal and oral hygiene.
In one of the cases at South Village , the resident actually died.
Is that what sets SanStone apart from other homes? " Passion, that's what makes the difference." Maybe if the spent their money on staffing their properties instead of advertising and sponsoring events, they could actually provide adequate care.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
"SanStone It's our passion that makes us different". Go see for yourself their "passion" in action.
I am still having difficulties with hearing the SanStone commercials on WLOS channel 13. "SanStone Health, It's our passion that makes us different." Different from who would be the question. All you have to do is look at the ratings on Medicare.gov, and you will see they are no different from any of the other homes. It is somewhat confusing how they maintain a average rating, with all that passion. I'm sure it has to do with the help they get from their friends at the NCDHSR. It's not like they don't get complaints against SanStone properties, It's just that none of the complaints are substantiated. It's not like they don't get written up occasionally in the yearly surveys either. The answer to complaints and surveys both is the same, "defficiencies corrected."
I just went to Medicare.gov and they don't even show the corrections anymore. They tell you to call the home for plan of correction
I'm not sure how much they pay those elderley folk in their commercials to say how wonderful they are, but they are obviously not residents at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. I've been in there and what I saw was certainly not Passion.
I saw people laying in their own urine and feces. I saw residents wheeled down to therapy an hour early, just so someone would be watching them. I saw residents sitting in the hall and dining room in wheelchairs waiting for someone to take them somewhere. What I did not see was passion.
While visiting a friend one day, he had an accident while in his wheelchair. I pushed the call button and waited, eventually I went to the nurses station and asked the person at the desk if someone could come clean him. My friend was sitting in a wheelchair in a pool of his urine for more than 20 minutes. I know the time because when he was wheeled in they said he needed to sit up for half an hour. On a subsequent visit they were discussing a pressure ulcer. Sitting in urine for twenty minutes definately doesn't help a pressure ulcer.
The staffing levels would make it impossible for the staff to be passionate. A person that is overworked and underpaid is not a model for passion. The people who show passion are the ones trying to sell you on the place. The residents I visited were both Medicare patients, it is possible that they have a hall where they put private pay residents where they are treated different.
The bottom line is that the patients I've seen in Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation need compassion. Maybe they should change their slogan to - " Money, that's our passion". WLOS will let them say whatever they want as long as they pay. It seems a little suspicious that WLOS is in the same complex as the SanStone corporate office. Although the mailing address of SanStone is actually a Fed - X office on Airport Road, I've seen the office in Biltmore Park.
The dictionary defines passion as "an intense desire or enthusiasm for something", I guess if they don't say what they are passionate about, they can't be sued for perjury. Just walk in to Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and look for passion. There has to be a special kind of place for these profiteers in the afterlife. Maybe then they will learn what passion is.
I just went to Medicare.gov and they don't even show the corrections anymore. They tell you to call the home for plan of correction
I'm not sure how much they pay those elderley folk in their commercials to say how wonderful they are, but they are obviously not residents at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. I've been in there and what I saw was certainly not Passion.
I saw people laying in their own urine and feces. I saw residents wheeled down to therapy an hour early, just so someone would be watching them. I saw residents sitting in the hall and dining room in wheelchairs waiting for someone to take them somewhere. What I did not see was passion.
While visiting a friend one day, he had an accident while in his wheelchair. I pushed the call button and waited, eventually I went to the nurses station and asked the person at the desk if someone could come clean him. My friend was sitting in a wheelchair in a pool of his urine for more than 20 minutes. I know the time because when he was wheeled in they said he needed to sit up for half an hour. On a subsequent visit they were discussing a pressure ulcer. Sitting in urine for twenty minutes definately doesn't help a pressure ulcer.
The staffing levels would make it impossible for the staff to be passionate. A person that is overworked and underpaid is not a model for passion. The people who show passion are the ones trying to sell you on the place. The residents I visited were both Medicare patients, it is possible that they have a hall where they put private pay residents where they are treated different.
The bottom line is that the patients I've seen in Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation need compassion. Maybe they should change their slogan to - " Money, that's our passion". WLOS will let them say whatever they want as long as they pay. It seems a little suspicious that WLOS is in the same complex as the SanStone corporate office. Although the mailing address of SanStone is actually a Fed - X office on Airport Road, I've seen the office in Biltmore Park.
The dictionary defines passion as "an intense desire or enthusiasm for something", I guess if they don't say what they are passionate about, they can't be sued for perjury. Just walk in to Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and look for passion. There has to be a special kind of place for these profiteers in the afterlife. Maybe then they will learn what passion is.
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