Posted: Wednesday, December 4, 2013 9:12 pm | Updated: 12:31 am, Thu Dec 5, 2013.
A company that manages two nursing homes in Santa Fe has agreed to pay a fine and change its practices after admitting to obstructing the efforts of a state ombudsman that investigates resident complaints. “The administration making derogatory comments about the Ombudsman or saying ‘don’t talk to the Ombudsman, come to me instead’ that is obstruction and intimidation,” said Sondra Everhart, state long-term care ombudsman.
As part of a settlement agreement, Preferred Care Partners Management Group will pay the state $3,500. Everhart said it is the fourth time in her nine years as ombudsman that she has fined a nursing home, and New Mexico is one of the only states where the ombudsman’s office can impose penalties.
In a telephone interview, Everhart said the derogatory comments about the long-term care owmbudsman came from the administration at Casa Real Healthcare Center, 150 Galisteo St., and verified by sworn statements by current or former staff members. Her office issued a notice of violation Nov. 1 and imposed an initial fine of $23,500.
But Everhart said the company acknowledged the problems and agreed to make changes, which is the reason the penalty was reduced.
“We are very encouraged by the positive immediate response and resident-supportive actions taken by Preferred Care Partners Management Group,” Everhart said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the management of Casa Real Healthcare Center to serve and support residents who call Casa Real home.”
Other issues involved information not being sent to the Ombudsman in a timely manner. “This fine is one remedial aspect of a settlement agreement that addresses a situation in which the Ombudsman Program Staff and volunteers were not given timely access to documentation and information needed to resolve resident complaints and conduct investigations. ... Such actions constitute legally actionable interference,” wrote Everhart in a statement.
According to the state Aging and Long-Term Services Department, Preferred Care Partners and Casa Real administrators have agreed to:
• Ensure that facility managers have a full understanding of their legal obligations to the New Mexico Ombudsman Program.
• Establish regularly scheduled communication meetings with the State Ombudsman and Ombudsman Program staff for the next two years.
• Provide the state ombudsmen with immediate access to the facility’s regional and divisional corporate representatives to resolve concerns.
• To present residents’ rights training to facility staff and managers by ombudsmen, who are to be introduced by corporate representatives.
The New Mexican asked an administrator at Casa Real for a comment from the parent corporation, Preferred Care Partners, but there was no response as of press time Wednesday.
The Plano, Texas-based Preferred Care took over all 10 of the New Mexico nursing homes managed by Cathedral Rock, including Casa Real with 118 beds and Santa Fe Care Center with 120 beds, 635 Harkle Road.
Cathedral Rock had been operating its business under the scrutiny of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after a settlement regarding patient abuse and health care fraud at homes it operated in Missouri. The company and its New Mexico facilities were being monitored by a doctor and nursing home expert out of Baltimore, under rules set down in a legally binding Corporate Integrity Agreement, which itemized oversight and performance standards.
Preferred Care assumed the businesses from Cathedral Rock about a year ago, Everhart said. It operates more than two dozen homes in Texas and also provides home health and Alzheimer’s care. It was founded in 2004 and is privately held.
Some 80 percent of the patients are Medicaid or Medicare qualified with reimbursements ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 a month depending on the level of care.
The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is mandated by federal and state law to investigate resident complaints at long-term care facilities. The program has some 150 certified volunteers who visit home and investigate complaints. Most complaints are resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of the resident, according to the Aging and Long-Term Services Department.
Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnewmexican.com.
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