30 Violations Found At Cheney Nursing Home Center Barred From Admitting New Patients, May Face Loss Of Medicare, Medicaid Funds
The state’s crackdown on nursing homes continues as the Cheney Care Center was recently cited for more than 30 violations.
For the first time in at least 10 years, the only nursing home in Cheney is forbidden from admitting new residents until its problems are resolved.
The Cheney home is the latest target in a string of disciplinary actions the state has taken against area nursing homes in the past year.
The state cited the Southcrest nursing home at 110 W. Cliff Drive for poor care in May, and stopped it from admitting new residents until it improves the quality of its care. The home is still on probation.
The state also effectively closed the Valleycrest nursing home at 12715 E. Mission this year after convincing the federal government to stop sending Medicare and Medicaid money to the home in October.
In a Nov. 6 letter to the Cheney Care Center, the state Department of Aging and Adult Services warns the center could face a similar fate by next April if it doesn’t correct its problems by that time.
Center administrator Keith Fauerso said Friday that he is optimistic the 62-bed home will be back in good standing with the state by Dec. 12, as required to avoid further sanctions or fines.
“I’m confident that we can,” he said. “But it’s not going to be easy. There’s not much time.”
Fauerso also said the rules of running a nursing home have shifted during the past year since the federal government directed states to stiffen standards.
“You’ve got to be perfect” now, he said. “Any facility, no matter how good their patient care is, could find themselves in this situation.”
Care concerns alleged by the state include:
Care response. Cheney Care Center residents complained it took two hours to get a nurse to respond to their immediate needs. Inspectors also noted the nursing staff took up to 24 hours to give residents medication a doctor prescribed as “ASAP.”
Privacy concerns. Almost a third of the observed residents didn’t receive appropriate privacy, including repeated incidents of exposed buttocks while residents received care.
The inspection also noted such concerns as an apparent failure to replace a resident’s lost dentures for four straight months - despite repeated complaints from the resident that “I lost my teeth.”
Fauerso said the non-profit nursing home intends to challenge some of the citations, and resolve the others.
He also emphasized that, until now, the home had a good record with the state. “We’ve had a very excellent history of inspections,” he said, noting last year the home had only four violations.
, DataTimes