Two Colorado nursing homes that were included on a list of the nation’s worst say they are working to improve care in their facilities.
Eagle Ridge at Grand Valley in Grand Junction and Kindred Healthcare & Rehab Center of Northglenn are among 54 homes that had more deficiencies than average and haven’t improved enough in follow-up inspections, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.
Eagle Ridge has added staff and training and passed its most recent inspection on Monday, said Jay Moskowitz, chief executive officer of the company managing the home, Quality Life Management.
He said the home needs to pass another inspection before being taken off the list.
“Our goal right now is to reassure (residents and their families) that we are giving them good care, the care they deserve,” he said.
Eagle Ridge’s violations date to 2005, the year before Quality Life Management took over at the request of the state health department, Moskowitz said.
David Strain of Kindred Healthcare acknowledged the facility has had regulatory struggles but said it has improved.
In a written statement, Strain said Kindred Healthcare ranks better than the state average on key quality measures like pain management and maintaining mobility and activity levels. He also said the home is now in compliance with all state and federal regulations.
Homes on the federal list of 54 were first listed as a “special focus facility,” meaning they have twice the average number of deficiencies and more serious violations than other nursing homes.
They are also inspected twice a year instead of just once, and failed to show significant improvement after one inspection after being placed on the list, said Mike Fierberg, a regional spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Most of the violations that turned up in recent inspections of the two Colorado homes did not result in injuries but posed a potential for harm, according to state inspectors. They perform the inspections for federal regulators.
A June inspection of Eagle Ridge found a licensed practical nurse didn’t document where on a patient she had injected insulin and that one patient who was supposed to take four pills daily on her own said she couldn’t get them down and didn’t know what they were for.
Without admitting to the conclusions of the inspectors, Eagle Ridge said nurses had been retrained in administering medication, including the importance of staying with patients to make sure they have taken their pills.
A September inspection at Kindred found workers had failed to investigate the origin of bruises and skin tears on two of out 23 sample patients.
The facility promised to perform weekly head-to-toe skin assessments and report anything suspicious to the state, according to the report.
Fierberg said residents and families can ask to see a home’s most recent inspection results. Results are also posted on the state health department’s Web site.
The results of Eagle Ridge’s Monday inspection are not available there yet.
———
On the Net:
Results of nursing home surveys:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services nursing home compliance:
