Abuse and Neglect of Elderly Rampant In Nursing Home Industry

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By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 2 of 6 page(s)

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"With these cases," he said, "we are trying to send a message that law enforcement is watching to ensure that appropriate standards of care are met."

The first case involves the Jennifer Matthew Nursing Home in Rochester and was developed through the use of secretly recorded videotapes of a bedridden patient, referred to in the court filings as "Patient A." The patient's family permitted the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to install a hidden camera to monitor interaction between the patient and nursing home staff.

The criminal complaint describes evidence of how Patient A and other residents were not turned and repositioned to avoid the risk of pressure sores, and were often left for hours to lie in their own urine and feces, and alleges that medications and treatment were not provided as prescribed.

The court filings describes how the staff would move call bells away from patients and stop doing their rounds so that they could socialize, sleep, watch movies, or even leave the building.

Staff members are also accused of falsely claiming in required paperwork that proper care had been provided to the patients.

The second case involves the Northwoods Nursing Home and again, the family of a resident consented to the installation of a hidden video camera.

According to criminal complaint, the camera revealed that licensed professionals repeatedly failed to provide care or treatment to the resident, and then falsified records to report that proper care had been administered.

Five employees were charged with Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class "E" felony, and misdemeanor neglect and endangerment in the Northwoods case.

These and other patient neglect cases prompted a report by the Attorney General's office that gives the details of staffing levels at nursing homes throughout the state to assist the public in choosing an appropriate nursing home.

Government studies have shown a strong relationship between staffing levels and quality of care, and have identified a threshold, referred to as hours per resident day or "HPRD," below which the quality of care suffers.

On the basis of these studies, some states have set minimum staffing levels for nursing homes. In its report, the Attorney General's Office lists each nursing home in the state, its HPRD ratio, and states whether that home would meet the standards set in other states or a threshold described in a 2001 federal study.

The report urges consumers to visit homes, actively monitor the level of care being delivered, and talk to others with family members or friends in the home.

In another Medicaid fraud case, on May 26, 2006, Attorney General Spitzer announced that a grand jury had indicted former nursing home owner Abe Zelmanowicz for stealing more than $3 million from the Medicaid program.

Zelmanowicz, and the entities which formerly owned the two homes, were arraigned on a 21-count indictment with one charge of Grand Larceny in the First Degree and 20 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. If convicted, Zelmanowicz could face up to 25 years in prison.

According to the indictment, from January 1, 1997, to August 27, 2003, Medicaid payments were made to the homes based on submissions by Zelmanowicz, which claimed that the facilities were properly reserving or "holding" a resident's room when the resident was temporarily hospitalized.

Under New York law, nursing homes are only allowed to temporarily bill for "bed holds" when the home is 95% occupied and when the hospitalized residents had lived in the nursing home for at least 30 days prior to hospitalization. Zelmanowicz is accused of billing for "bed holds" when he knew that he was not entitled to receive payments under these regulations.

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