Memorial Mission Hospital, and Care Partners, shame on you !

This time three years ago was probably one of the worst times in my life. Mom had surgery on the 7th of September 2011. The surgery, a craniotomy was scheduled due to her worsening eyesight. Dr. Harold Picus was the surgeon who performed the surgery at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville NC.
According to Dr. Picus, Mom was expected to make a complete recovery. The surgery involved opening the side of her skull to access the pituitary gland where the tumor was located. Needless to say when the family was allowed in to see Mom after the surgery it was quite a shock to see all those staples in the side of her head. The recovery was taking longer than expected and Mission was in a hurry to get her out of there.
Mom was in ICU for the first five days or so, and then she was moved to a private room. She was not able to eat for another couple of days. After several more days she was able to eat a small portion of her dinner. Mom's appetite was nowhere close to what it was before the surgery, but it was enough to get Memorial Mission Hospital to force her release. Not one of us knew enough to get medical power of attorney, or how to protest her release. She was obviously not ready to go anywhere, but the doctors convinced us that she had a small window of opportunity to get into Care Partners. One of the doctors at Mission told my brother Medicare would refuse to pay if they waited too long.
My brother spoke to the nurse at Mission Hospital who was preparing the papers for Mom's discharge. He pointed out the fact that Mom was not ready to be moved, she left the room and returned a little while later. She was crying and told my brother that she had postponed the release but she could only do so much. She was moved by ambulance two days later to Care Partners in Asheville.
Things were starting to get really complicated. Medicare will pay for twenty one days of rehabilitation. Mom was put in a room and pretty much just left there. The family took turns feeding her and taking care of what we could. We were even bringing food from home and restaurants . The staff would wheel in the meal cart and just leave it. Mom could not see well enough to eat on her own. Care Partners answer was to keep giving her Ensure instead of feeding her. The only thing Care Partners did do, was make damn sure Mom did not fall. If she moved wrong and set off the bed alarm they were in there really quick. Tension was getting bad within the family, each of us had our own idea of what was best for her. Still, no one could bear the thought of having Mom declared incompetent.
Believe me, looking back now someone should have had medical power of attorney before the surgery even took place. Mom had downplayed the whole thing, probably in an attempt to keep peace in the family. Mom could have disputed her release, but she did what the doctors told her to do. They even asked her if she was ready to go to Care Partners, her answer was " if you say I am ".
Anyone having any surgery should have a medical power of attorney. If you do not you are totally at the mercy of the medical community. They will keep you as long as they are getting those Medicare dollars, then you're on your own. It's amazing that after twenty one days at Care Partners, it was decided that Mom was ready to go home. She was still not able to walk without assistance and was barely eating. Twenty one days is twenty one days. More to come

Aldona Wos, Mark Payne, Todd Davis, Beverly Speroff, what are you afraid of ? Who are you protecting ???

After two weeks, I finally received a response to my letter to Mark Payne the chief of staff of the NCDHHS.
The letter was a request that they review the investigation notes from my complaint against Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. I had included three pages of notes from Todd Davis, the lead investigator. Parts of those pages were highlighted to show inconsistencies, and there was also a list of questions. I was simply trying to understand how the report could be so wrong about so many things.
In the report Todd Davis states that Dr. Larry Joe Russell had seen Mom the morning after she fell as he would any patient when he came in that morning at 5:30. On page three of the same report, Mr. Davis states that Dr. Russell did not see her after the fall. He goes on to say that the nurses at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation examined her and decided she did not need further care. In Dr. Russell's professional opinion the nurses did what they were supposed to.
Ok I'm a little bit confused as to how this could have happened. According to Mr. Payne, the Surveyor Notes Worksheets are not Mr. Davis'  summary of the investigation .They are simply notes of what Mr. Davis was told by the individuals that he had interviewed during the investigation. Mr. Payne doesn't seem to care that the facts are inaccurate.
Here is the definition of investigation from the dictionary : the act or process of investigating; a careful search or examination in order to discover facts. I'm pretty sure that the Surveyors Notes Worksheets indicate anything but a careful search in order to discover facts. Either that or they just don't care about the accuracy of their facts.
Did Mr. Davis actually interview Dr. Larry Joe Russell twice about the night of the fall. Did Dr. Russell forget what he said in the first interview, or was he confused about which of his "patients" he was talking about . If he actually kept records he would not contradict himself! My question would be who was more confused, Dr. Russell or Todd Davis. If in fact Dr. Russell was actually interviewed twice and told two different stories, would that not be a red flag for an investigator ? Someone "in search or examination to discover facts".
According to Mark Payne, Chief of Staff at the NCDHHS, no further action is warranted. Not one of the questions in my letter was addressed by Mr. Payne. He simply stated that the information contained in the surveyor worksheets were not Todd Davis' summary. As a high ranking official at the NCDHHS, I would question his concern for public safety. Is The NCDHHS protecting the owners of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation ? Or do they actually have any authority to enforce violations of their own regulations. Does this have anything to do with the fact that Gerald P. Cox , a member of the NC Medical Commission is connected to the owners of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation?
Whatever the answer is, they continually refuse to explain the mistakes that they made in an investigation, that eventually involved the death of a resident of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and a patient of Dr. Larry Joe Russell. If they did nothing wrong then why not just simply answer the questions I ask? There is no legal action I can take if they tell the truth, I am simply trying to make them see the flaws in their own system. Obviously they are protecting someone for some reason.
Again I do not disagree with anything Mr. Payne said in his letter, except for the fact that my complaint was thoroughly investigated. I am working on another letter to Mr. Payne asking for the same answers that he avoided giving me. I'll post when and if I get a Reply.
Keep those letters and calls coming your stories are important. Better yet post a comment on this blog for all to see. Don't be afraid to stand up for those you love!~

Is the NCDHHS so perfect that they dont even want to look?

Back in March, I wrote a letter to Aldona Wos , the North Carolina secretary of DHHS. The letter was a simple explanation of my frustrations with the NCDHSR. I also requested that Secretary Wos would have someone review Mom's file. I sent the letter by regular mail, and never received a response.
In July, I sent the same letter via certified mail. This time I received a response from Mark Payne, the chief of staff of the NCDHHS. The letter is basically a timeline of what was supposedly done following the complaint investigation. There is nothing in the letter that addresses any of the questions I had asked. Typical government response to a question, answer anything except what you are asked.
There are specific things in the report that are not true, or contradict what is said elsewhere in the very same report. This is a symptom of a problem that is system wide in the NCDHHS and CMS. Neither of which will even attempt to explain or even look at what is there. If they were to look they could not ignore us any longer. But how do you get them to look ?
I am not disputing what Mr. Payne says in his letter except the part about a "thorough investigation". I included a list of questions that I would ask Todd Davis, the origional investigators. I also asked for a simple review of the facts. I am working on a list of questions for the investigators. I also requested documentation for some of the facts from the so called review. Now I wait for an answer from Mr. Payne.
I sent him a copy of Todd Davis's summary of the investigation, which is full of mistakes and false statements. Any of which prove that the investigation was not taken serious at all. Hopefully that may matter to someone at the NCDHHS. I have a feeling they will not respond, or that they will tell me the matter is closed as they have up till now. How can you improve on a system if you cant look at mistakes after the fact. Most people just get the response and accept that the NCDHHS has the final say. I believe it is my right if not my responsibility to point out the flaws in the whole nursing home inspection process.
The purpose of what I'm doing is to encourage reform of the nursing home inspection system. I believe that if you have people who worked in that environment, they become blind to the violations. They know that the nursing homes are understaffed and they overlook things because of that. What if they sent someone who was not from a medical background along with the team. Would the results still be the same? What if they were not allowed to announce the arrival of the inspectors over the intercom. If you've ever been in a home when it is being inspected, they put a sign on all entry doors and they announce the arrival of the inspectors.
How do they ever expect to find something wrong if they dont take time to look? They already know what the issues are at the homes, they just dont go beyond that. It's like working in a restaurant and the health inspector comes in. First thing you do is pull the can opener and run it through the dishwasher, if not thats the first thing you get written up for. The main difference is that the mistakes made in nursing homes are sometimes a matter of life and death.
In order for things to cahnge, they are going to have to start looking for real problems, not just the can opener. Staff levels in nursing homes are the main cause of everything else. There are no laws that I've found that say how much staff is required per resident. They break it down by the number of hours worked by the nurses and cna's. There is no specific number required on each shift, regardless of the number of patients. No wonder so many people " fail to thrive " as Dr. Russell puts it on the death certificates.
I saw on the news yesterday where a man got eighteen months in prison for animal abuse. Nursing home residents are being neglected to the point of death, and there are no substantiated complaints. I guess people care more about cute little animals than a helpless elderly person. Things need to change, I can use all the help I can get. Please continue to contact me and share your stories. It will someday make a difference.

Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and SanStone must have friends in high places.

I began writing this over two years ago, simply because I couldn't believe what these people are getting away with. I've spent most of my spare time looking into how the nursing home industry works. I've seen the ownership, management, shell companies and all the usual ways that wealthy business owners hide their money. What bothers me the most is that the authorities don't care. They are almost hostile to the person making a complaint or an accusation.
This began when my brother and I filed complaints against Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation .with the NCDHSR. The complaints were based on the care Mom received there. When we received the copies of her medical records, we were astonished that the NCDHSR could not find any deficiencies.
The records themselves are for the most part handwritten. The majority of the documents have the wrong bed and room number. There is missing medication, no records at all from the shift the night Mom died, no notes from Dr. Larry Joe Russell who was supposed to be her doctor. There is an entry concerning a fall that was written a month after Mom's death. During her entire stay there are only four records of showers. One of the documents indicates that the night of the fall, she took a shower with no assistance. Although it is repeatedly noted that she was a fall risk and required assistance with ambulating.
This is not a complete list of what is wrong with Mom's medical records, but a representation of some of the obvious deficiencies we found. They are some of the violations that were overlooked by the NCDHHS. After the response from the NCDHSR, we requested a meeting with the Western Regional Director of the NCDHSR, Gail Maloney. During the meeting, we were basically told that none of the issues violated  their regulations. Ms. Maloney informed us that she had the final word and that there was nothing else we could do. At the time of our meeting the only thing we had were  Mom's medical records from Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. I did not receive the results of the DHSR investigation from the Freedom of Information Act till the following August. I have been through the information and have found too many inconsistencies to list. There are answers to our complaint that have no documentations to support them. This is not the way to investigate, there is proof in the records that is ignored because of the investigators opinion.
Why is the word of someone being investigated given more weight than the accuser? I have nothing to gain from this. Am I not due the same considerations as the very people who have something to lose. How would that work in a court of law. I am innocent simply because I say I am. There would certainly be no problem with the overcrowding of prisons. If someone did something wrong, are they really going to admit it to the authorities.
What do I have to do to get the NCDHSR to respond to my accusations. What rights do I have to make them look at their own mistakes. Lives are being lost due to the fact that the nursing homes are being allowed to violate the NCDHSR regulations. The investigators are looking the other way and allowing the homes to do whatever they want. How much is a life of an elderly patient worth to the NCDHSR. What are they getting in exchange for looking the other way?
All I am asking is for the NCDHSR to do their job, and preform comprehensive investigations. They are getting paid by taxpayers to investigate. Are they also getting paid to ignore their own findings?
That would be illegal and law enforcement would be getting involved. That's what you would think anyway.
 If the NCDHSR is the final word, how will there ever be any sort of reform of the laws concerning nursing homes? Where is the justice for the elderly patients living in substandard conditions? Do they not have rights to be treated with respect ? Is there any dignity in lying in your own waste, or not getting a shower? If you have been in a nursing home, you must have seen things that made you wonder.
If you have someone in a nursing home, especially Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation, take a look around. There are many warning signs that people ignore. Especially if you are the one who put your loved one in there. Sometimes it is impossible to care for someone at home and there is no choice. If you are in this situation you could help change the laws. Complain if something is wrong, and don't get discouraged when you get ignored by the NCDHSR. It takes more than a couple of people to make a change. I need all the help I can get. Don't let these people keep making millions at the expense of the elderly. Make them provide the care they are getting paid for.

FOIA ,Where is the Information????

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.
My first experience with the FOIA was when I requested the results of the investigation of my complaint with DHSR. The Complaint was against Dr. Larry Joe Russell and Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. A SanStone Property.
 I filled out the form on line and the next day received conformation that they had received my request. Three days later I received the same conformation letter in the mail. It took over one year to actually receive the information I requested that first time!
By the time I received the information, there was nothing I could do about all of the mistakes in the report. When I contacted the NCDHSR to request clarification, they said it had been too long since the complaint was filed. So basically I have no rights because it took them so long to answer my request. The system is set up to prevent the use of any NCDHSR results in a law suit or any other legal action. Basically they make you wait till there is absolutely nothing you can do. If we had the information when we started, we could have gotten quite a bit further with law enforcement. By the time we received the report, nobody wanted to hear it.
I have requested clarification from Todd Davis, the Western Regional Director of the NCDHSR, my request was denied, due to the time since the investigation. I then went the next step and contacted Beverly Speroff, the section chief of the NCDHSR. Again I was refused and informed that the time was the problem, and after subsequent investigations they could not issue a citation.
I wrote Ms. Speroff again and explained that I was not looking for a citation to be written. Again I simply wanted some clarification on parts of their report. The next communication was short and sweet. They refused all requests and informed me if I wanted to make another complaint I could call the hotline.
My brother and I also filed FOIA requests for other information from the CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services). It has been over a year and we are still being sent back and forth from one FOIA specialist to another. Robin Brooks, Michael S. Marquis, Garfield Daley, Danean Jones, TedDoolittle , Breita Gillard, Sherry Landtroop, Reg 04, Donna Mott, back to Danean Jones and now Edna Brady.
Ms. Brady responded to my email two weeks ago, she said she would call or email me by Friday July 11th. I never received any communication from Ms. Brady. I emailed her again as a reminder, and she responded that she would be in touch by Friday the 18th. It was no surprise that she failed to respond, again. I sent her another email today, and have not yet received any response.
How long does it take to get information from the FOIA? I guess it all depends on who is incriminated by the information you request. What are they trying to keep us from finding out? What right do they have to deny us the information we requested? Is FOIA keeping me "in the know about my government"? I'm more confused now than I was when this whole thing started, is the FOIA based on the discretion of the "information specialist".
Actually as I re read this, I think I may be starting to understand how the system works afterall. It doesn't. Plain and simple this group of people and agencies have no idea who has what. They cant even say they will release any information, or even if there is any thing to be released.
I have asked Ms. Brady twice to expedite the request due to the time since the actual request was made. As of now I have been lead to believe there is some information, but not sure they will release it. I guess this shows that Freedom Of Information is not always a promise, or that they actually have any information at all.
Its a good thing we have this Law like the FOIA, or we would never be able to understand how the government works!

Is the NCDHSR letting Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and Dr. Larry Joe Russell Get away with murder?

Is it possible that the NCDHSR is allowing DR. Larry Joe Russell and Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation to get away with murder? Sounds like I finally lost my mind right? Before you judge my sanity, lets look at the facts.
First you have a patient that is admitted for vocational and physical rehabilitation. The admission form states the diagnosis as rectal pain, constipation and encephalopathy ( disease damage or malfunction of the brain , not necessarily permanent).
The encephalopathy was a result of a craniotomy performed by Dr. Harold Picus. The surgery was to remove a tumor from the pituitary gland. According to Dr. Picus the surgery was successful and a complete recovery was expected.
After spending time at Care Partners in Asheville Mom returned home. She was home for about a week and then readmitted to Mission Hospital for hemorrhoids and stomach pain. After a little over a week she was discharged and sent to Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation to regain her strength and continue her recovery.
During her stay at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation she was actively participating in the therapy, and getting stronger every day. There were several issues with the care she was receiving at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. At the time most of them seemed minor, and Mom was getting stronger. There was a family member with her most of the day .
The problem was Mom was not getting the assistance with toileting or eating. The time it took for them to respond to the call light, forced her to try to go to the bathroom by herself. If one of us was there we would always help, but if we weren't she would try on her own. The response time to the call lights was anywhere from five to thirty minutes .That's a long time to wait if you have to go to the bathroom.
From the roommates description of a fall that occurred days before her death, she was attempting to get to the bathroom. There was another instance that was brought up by a nurse when Mom was found outside her room using her food tray as a walker, looking for the bathroom . Although neither of the two events was correctly documented in her records.
The day of her discharge, Mom was found without a pulse and not breathing. The details of that morning are still a mystery. The owners and administration of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation, refuse to provide any details other than the medical records. The records are inaccurate and contain false information. If there is nothing to hide, why are they going to such extremes to hide things.
I'm no doctor, and have no medical training other than what I got in Boy Scouts. I have however done a considerable amount of research, and have come up with a theory. I believe that when Mom fell, she hit her head on the terrazzo floor or her food tray. Being only two months after a craniotomy, this could have been tragic. According to medical journals and articles I have read it takes up to a year for the skull to heal after the surgery.
I believe she suffered a subdural hematoma (bleeding on the brain) that eventually caused her death. According to the records there are facts that indicate she was exhibiting symptoms of the above. There were no tests done after the fall, other than a blood pressure test, oxygen saturation, and pulse. A simple check of her pupils could have indicated further treatment , that was not done. The nurses note describing the fall was dated a month after Mom's death. It was created in an effort to stop the NC State Medical examiners office from doing an autopsy. The nurse Lara Mooney LPN states that she witnessed the fall. According to her statement, Mom actually slid out of bed and did not hit her head. It seems a little hard to believe that a month after a fall, she would remember such details! Not to mention Mom's records say she was to have a personal alarm, and bed and chair alarms at all times.
I have a death certificate of another patient at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation , signed by Dr. Larry Joe Russell . I believe the cause of death listed on the original death certificate was failure to thrive. According to the coroner Dr. Huntley, the actual cause of death was a "subdural hematoma as a result of a fall". I was given the name of that patient, by someone who has a relative in Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. According to witnesses, the patient was dropped on her head by a nurse, who tried to lift her alone, which is against regulations.
The NCDHSR is conducting bogus investigations which are allowing people to die. In 2011 and 2012, there were nine complaints filed against Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. Of those only one was found to be substantiated. In that case the patient was given the wrong medication, and ended up in the hospital. It would have been hard for the NCDHSR to find that one unsubstantiated.
During their yearly inspections they managed to find a total of  forty six pages of deficiencies.
Is the NCDHSR letting nursing homes get away with murder? They certainly don't go out of their way to find deficiencies. I've been trying to get them to look at the report for over two years. I cant even get them to answer my letters.
The definition of murders : the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered by law. Maybe like dropping an elderly lady on her head and not getting her the proper medical treatment. Murder or not you be the judge, because the NCDHSR will never bring them to a real judge.

It's our money they are stealing!

It has been two weeks since my last post. As of today, I still have not received a response to the letter I mailed on April 24, 2014. The letter was sent to Aldona Wos Secretary of the NCDHHS, Governor Pat McCrory, CMS, and several law enforcement agencies. The letter asks for an explanation of why  the investigation of  Hendersonvlle Health and Rehabilitation contained false statements and inaccuracies. Todd Davis, Kim Britt and Paul Yockey did the supposed "investigation".
In the summary there are several statements that contain conflicting information. There are also quite a few times that statements are made that have no supporting facts. The investigation is a joke, and the head of the NCDHHS doesn't seem to be concerned. These investigations allow the nursing homes to remain licensed, even when lives are being lost due to the violations of regulations they are paid to enforce.
If you have read my posts, you are probably familiar with the things I mention above.
I have repeatedly contacted employees of the NCDHHS, CMS, Governor McCrory and members of the Senate and Congress. For two and a half years, I have been pushing them to do their jobs. The responses I have received imply that it is not my right to doubt them. This just proves that if you question anything that is putting money into their pockets, you are the bad guy.
I was recently speaking to a Congressman and he even admitted that these people will ignore you and run you in circles till you go away. That's not going to happen in this case. I will continue to pursue the truth and strive to have the laws changed to stop these people from stealing Medicare dollars. They are stealing money from you and I, and apparently that's acceptable to most people.
I have an acquaintance, that told me their mother was at Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation and they were double billing Medicare. The mother would call them and they would suggest that they would look into the bills. They were never corrected, and nothing was done about it. Another person called me and told me that DR. Russell was treating her for sleep apnea, and supplying her with a cpap machine. When she changed doctors, they told her she did not have sleep apnea.
There are more stories and I have names and contact information.  That's our money folks, they are stealing our money! I work hard to pay my bills and I personally find it hard to swallow. There are plenty of sick people who need treatment, why does Dr. Russell have to falsely diagnose patients. Cant he simply treat patients and provide the appropriate care, or is it that easy to steal from Medicare and private insurance companies.  
I have seen many stories on the news about how they caught someone fraudulently obtaining benefits from Medicare or the NCDHHS. Believe me that's small potatoes compared to the money that the operators like SanStone and Dr. Larry Joe Russell are stealing. The difference is that the agencies that are supposed to enforce and investigate are controlled by the politicians who owe their positions to these thieves.
The problem is the way businesses contribute to political campaigns. Obviously this is not just an issue with nursing homes, it affects all industries. It is the reason we are eating food contaminated with hazardous chemicals, damaging our ecosystem by allowing fracking, the list goes on and on. The nursing home owners are serious contributors to republicans and democrats alike. The party affiliation is not important, as long as they "earn" there campaign funds after the election.
We are taught from an early age that democracy guarantees that our vote counts. Have you seen the children come home from school with the little  "I voted" stickers. They come home and they are so proud of the fact that they "voted". As a parent it is difficult for me not to explain to them that politicians are not always honest? Should I explain to my son that corporate money is what is controlling the politicians, or do I let him believe his vote will actually make a difference?
We can only hope that there are some politicians that care about more than just money. However in order to get elected, they are relying on corporate campaign contributions. If they get elected and want to stay in office, they have to be careful who's toes they step on. America is being governed by the influence of corporations. I'm sure this is not a surprise to anyone, but why do we allow them to get away with it. How do you stop the cycle if they are the ones making the laws?