written by Lisa Chedekel
The state Department of Public Health has fined three nursing homes more than $500 each for offenses ranging from care lapses that led to patients’ falls, to the alleged theft of residents’ funds by a nursing home employee.
The most serious of the citations involves the Village Green of Waterbury, which was fined $3,000 for several charges, including the alleged misappropriation by an employee of $27,472 from the personal accounts of 94 residents of the home. The nursing home’s administrator told DPH inspectors that the account manager of the home, who was in charge of residents’ accounts, would write out checks for more than a resident had requested and would keep the additional money, according to a state inspection report. Additionally, the report says, “money was withdrawn from cognitively impaired residents’ accounts without the responsible parties’ consent.” Police are investigating.
In addition to the alleged theft, Village Green was cited by the DPH for an incident in which a nurse’s aide reportedly slapped a resident forcefully on the shoulder to wake him up, yelling “get out!” The nursing home investigated the incident and fired the aide, the inspection report says.
Two other nursing homes also face fines of more than $500. West Hartford Health & rehabilitation faces a $580 fine for failing to prevent a resident with dementia from falling. The resident fell from a wheelchair earlier this year because the staff did not provide a “lap chair” that could have prevented the fall, a state inspection report says.
Meanwhile, the Mystic Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center faces a $510 fine for not properly monitoring a patient who was at risk of falls. The resident fell in the bathroom while left alone and suffered a fractured hip, according to an inspection report.
