senior-spectrum.com

Amador County Nursing Home Fined $75,000 for Patient’s Death

Spectrum staff

A nursing home operated within Sutter Amador Hospital in Amador County has been cited and fined $75,000 by the state for allegedly providing poor care which led to the death of an 86-year-old resident, the state Department of Health Services reported.

The $75,000 fine and AA citation are the most severe penalties that the licensing department can levy under state law.

DHS said the elderly woman, whose name was not released, was admitted to the nursing home Jan. 11 with a diagnosis of fainting, low blood pressure, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
She also had hearing problems which hindered her ability to communicate.

When she was admitted, the woman was assessed as being at moderate risk for falls, DHS said. The next day, the nursing home’s staff updated the woman’s care plan to require a vest restraint on her chair and bed because she repeatedly had attempted to climb out of the bed. On Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, while wearing the restraint, she attempted to get out of bed between the bedrails.

On Jan. 20, DHS reported, the woman was found caught between the bedrails and mattress. She was not breathing and had a faint pulse. A nursing home employee performed CPR and the woman was transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where she died two days later. A coroner’s report said the cause of death was “delayed demise with probable anoxic encephalopathy,” or neurological damage resulting from the brain having been deprived of oxygen.

The citation accuses the facility of failing to follow and implement the restraint policy and failing to properly train staff in the application of restraints.

The facility may appeal the citation and fine.