Medicare inspections reported health, staffing problems at Lordsburg nursing home

Jun. 18--LORDSBURG -- Sunshine Haven, the one nursing home serving Lordsburg, will close on Aug. 3, and a spokesman for its managing company said officials were assisting the 28 residents of the 67-bed facility in finding housing and care.

"We realize this isn't an easy process for the residents or their families. We're doing everything we can to help ensure a safe, comfortable, and smooth transition for them to a new home," Joshua Martin, lead marketing associate for Preferred Care Partners Management Group Consulting, wrote in a statement for the Sun-News.

"Our primary focus is to include the resident and/or responsible party in this process, ensuring the resident has all of their options presented to them based on location, payer source and services available for them," Martin wrote. "Additionally, we're working with their insurance case manager, ombudsman and psychologist to allow for continuity of care and emotional support. We're coordinating with all applicable state agencies and meeting all necessary requirements during the process."

The nursing home is owned by Texas-based company Preferred Care, Inc. and managed by PCPMG. Staff at the nursing home have referred all queries to Martin.

Inspectors reported deficiencies

Preferred Care is defending itself in a lawsuit by the New Mexico Attorney General over staffing levels at its nursing homes in New Mexico, and the company and its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protections amid citations over conditions at their nursing homes.

At Sunshine Haven, numerous deficiencies were reported by surveyors for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the last three years. The agency fined Sunshine Haven $44,990 in 2016, and another $26,390 last year.

The 2018 inspection counted 35 residents at Sunshine Haven, and found that its small medical staff was not assessing and treating bedsores properly, among other findings related to care, follow-up and medical services at the nursing home.

One resident had not seen an eye doctor despite requesting it after breaking her glasses. Another resident had a broken tooth and was in pain, but had not seen a dentist three months after she requested care.

The Sun-News reviewed standard inspection reports for three consecutive years. There were no inspections during that time arising from complaints. Neglect and insufficient staffing figure repeatedly among findings by surveyors.

'There is not enough staff'

On Nov. 1, 2016, inspectors found dirty standing water on the floor of a resident's bathroom where a toilet had overflowed.

On the same day, they observed sewer repairs underway in the kitchen, with a six-by-four-foot hole in the floor partly filled with "murky, brown, standing water." Yet inspectors found that food and beverages continued to be prepared there.

While those two incidents were the most serious infractions from that inspection, the report detailed numerous deficiencies at the nursing home, including a finding that "the facility failed to provide sufficient staff to provide care to residents in a timely manner."

Staffing records from that fall showed there were regularly as few as two certified nursing assistants on duty, and the director of nursing is quoted telling inspectors, "When there are just two CNAs and one nurse, it is too much for them ... there is not enough staff to safely care for the patients," some of whom required two persons for their care.

Long waits for assistance appeared to provoke spells of crying and rage in one resident, whom an inspector found to be exhibiting signs of depression but had not been referred for psychiatric care. During a busy morning, the inspector was left with the resident, and reported: "I explained to resident that the CNA would be in as soon as she can; (the resident) began to yell and cry."

The inspection resulted in the $44,990 fine and the sanitary emergencies were resolved, according to the full report.

'I wonder if she gets fed'

Complaints about staffing and fear of retaliation were voiced by residents in the 2017 CMS inspection, with the director of nursing confirming two nurses and three CNAs were scheduled per shift, leaving some residents waiting for assistance with toileting and other needs.

Inspectors also found that Sunshine Haven "failed to thoroughly investigate and report allegations of neglect" by one of its CNAs, who reportedly had been working there for three years.

A family member of a resident told inspectors, "They say they will get to her and they don't come back. When I am not here, I wonder if she gets fed. She is very skinny."

The neglect also extended to nutritional services, protocols for containing infections, reviewing prescribed medications, and providing "enough nurses to care for every resident in a way that maximizes the resident's well being."

Many of the deficiencies echo complaints that were included in the New Mexico Attorney General's lawsuit against Preferred Care in 2015, at a time when the company operated 11 nursing homes in the state.

According to the lawsuit, former employees at Sunshine Haven from 2011 to 2014 reported management ignored staff reports about poor care, neglect and falsified records, among other complaints. Complaints about the nursing home's failure to provide enough staff and provide basic care date back to 2009.

At PCPMG, Joshua Martin declined on Monday to state how many staff were currently employed at Sunshine Haven, but wrote, "We're currently operating at or above the required staffing limits set by the state."

Martin claimed the company is providing compensation and other assistance to help employees transition to new employment, and wrote, "As far as I know, the vast majority of our employees have secured employment post Sunshine Haven's closure."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, [email protected] or @AlgernonActor on Twitter.

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