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Nursing Home Inspections Result in Two Convictions
Spectrum
staff
Surprise inspections of 110 nursing homes during the past two years
have resulted in felony convictions of two employees and sanctions
against two doctors, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said last
week.
The inspections were part of Operation Guardians, a campaign led by Lockyer which
sends special agents, former nurses, auditors, doctors specializing in geriatrics
and fire inspectors into nursing homes.
An inspection in Oxnard resulted in the conviction of a licensed vocational nurse
for stealing narcotics intended as painkillers for residents. The nurse, Kimberly
Hunt, was convicted of possession of controlled substances and grand theft, the
attorney general said.
In Napa, a surprise inspection led to the conviction of Fitz De Guzman, an administrator
in training at a nursing home who was found to have stolen $49,000 from residents
and their families. De Guzman, who had used threats to prevent his victims from
talking, was sentenced to three years in prison.
“This program is succeeding in preventing loss, injury and death by identifying
health and fire hazards, theft of patients’ trust funds and failures to
provide adequate medical services to these vulnerable citizens before they can
escalate into life-threatening problems,” Lockyer said.
The Democratic officeholder said the inspections also resulted in two doctors
being sanctioned by the state Medical Board for improper care, with another doctor
still under investigation.
In all, 110 facilities were inspected from 2001 to 2003 — accounting for
12 percent of the 928 nursing homes in the 16 counties targeted by Operation
Guardians — and inspectors returned to 37 of the homes to check for compliance
with suggestions made during the first visit.
Lockyer’s summary claims that a higher percentage of the facilities in
the 16 counties were visited — 17 percent, a figure apparently derived
by counting return visits in the same category as new visits, and by adding a
percentage point to the resulting calculation.
In Sacramento County, nine facilities were inspected from 2001 to 2003, and inspectors
made return visits to five of those homes.
Inspectors reported that the most prevalent problems found throughout the state
were failure to meet the minimum staffing requirements mandated by state law;
failure to document tuberculosis tests; failure to prevent the theft of residents’ property
and failure to verify whether nurse assistants have valid certification.
In 132 of the 147 visits to nursing homes, inspectors found problems with patient
care and treatment, including failure to completely implement a doctor’s
orders, unsafe storage of drugs, failure to respond to call lights, failure to
report allegations of abuse and overmedication.
The state officials also reported that 136 visits turned up problems involving
substandard maintenance of the building or grounds, including loose handrails,
infestation by insects or rodents, mildew and hazardous walking surfaces.
Summaries of Sacramento area inspections illustrate the wide range of problems
cited by inspectors.
At Eskaton Manzanita Manor, the inspectors in May 2001 found that nurses’ notes “lacked
detailed descriptions of injuries and bruising, such as proper measurement, and
lacked follow up documentation in many instances.”
The same year, St. Claire’s Nursing Center was criticized for failing to
stay up to date on residents’ medical documentation.
“The progress notes of Dr. Y. do not arrive for more than a month after
he visits his patient,” the inspectors wrote, identifying the physician
by his initial only. “The notes then sit in the medical records office
until someone files them in the medical record.”
Also in 2001, inspectors said Folsom Convalescent’s property was in disrepair,
and, “Outside the facility there was still trash noted all over.” Problems
included unlocked maintenance closets, that allowed residents access to harmful
chemicals and razor blades.
At the Arden Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, inspectors the same year
reported the odor of urine, oxygen tanks that were not properly secured, and
resident call lights that were not being answered in a timely manner.
In a letter to the lead agent, the Arden facility’s administrator included
a chart documenting the dates on which the various problems were corrected in
response to the inspection.
Online summaries of inspections for individual facilities can be found on the
attorney general’s Web site, www.ag.ca.gov.
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