In Orange County, California, state officials have fined a Los Alamitos nursing home and a Huntington Beach nursing long-term care facility for patient deaths. Alamitos West Health Care Center was fined $100,000 and Huntington Valley Healthcare Center was told to pay $80,000.
According to the California Department of Public Health, the Los Alamitos nursing home neglected to provide an 82-year-old female resident with sufficient fluids. This led to her suffering from acute kidney failure, dehydration, a urinary tract infection, an "altered mental" state, and eventually death. She stayed at the Orange County, California nursing home for less than two months.
A doctor reportedly told the home to monitor the elderly resident's fluid consumption and urine on a regular basis, but there is no evidence to indicate that workers followed these directions. The Los Alamitos nursing home plans to appeal the fine.
The state imposed a fine against the Huntington Beach nursing home after the nursing home's administrator reported that a registered nurse supervisor chose not to call 911 while a patient was dying. The nurse supervisor believed that the resident had a "do not resuscitate" orders. However, the patient's records contained an advance directive form requesting CPR in the event of an emergency.
A licensed vocational nurse reportedly contacted a family member to report the resident's death. The relative was also notified that paramedics were never contacted. The family member told the nurse to contact 911 immediately. The patient no longer had a heartbeat by the time the paramedics arrived at the Huntington Beach nursing home.
Negligent Nursing Care
It is critical that nursing home workers follow the care directives provided for each nursing home resident. When negligent nursing care leads to injuries or deaths, the nursing home can be held liable for Orange County, California nursing home neglect.
Examples of negligent nursing care include:
• Failure to clean bedsores
• Failure to properly administer medications
• Failure to follow a patient's care plan
• Failure to properly supervise a resident
• Failure to give a patient enough fluids
• Failure to follow medical instructions
• Failure to follow the patient's dietary plan or feeding directions
• Failure to prevent fall accidents from happening
• Failure to prevent patient from wandering
2 Orange County nursing homes fined for patient deaths, Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2009
State fines O.C. nursing homes more than $200,000 in deaths, OC Register, June 10, 2009
Related Web Resources:
California Department of Health
Our Anaheim nursing home lawyers represent California personal injury and wrongful death clients throughout Southern California.
