Various Nursing Home Violations Reported in PA

nursing home violations in PA The Pennsylvania Health Department has issued citations to several nursing homes throughout the state.

At the Luther Crest Nursing Facility of South Whitehall Township, a man with Alzheimer’s disease had to be treated for hypothermia following entrapment in a walk-in refrigerator for almost three hours. He also required treatment of a hip fracture and finger dislocation related to the incident.

The facility was cited for their failure to properly supervise the resident. Luther Crest reported the incident and has said the system designed to alert staff of wondering residents in the secured nursing unit had failed. They have since improved the range and sensitivity of this system, installed hardware to prevent residents from accessing the kitchen, and have increased training regarding residents with illnesses affecting memory.

Golden LivingCenter-Stroud, located in East Stroudsburg, was cited after failing to provide residents with consistent, comfortable water temperatures for bathing; the issue has been recurrent since September 2015, according to inspection reports. Residents reported receiving bed baths instead of showers or baths in a tub – one resident’s wife had been warming water in a microwave for bathing.

The facility reported the hot water issues to the state, also reporting that the entire hot water system was being replaced during the period in question.

A nurse used a single blood glucose monitor on five residents at the Pleasant Valley Manor/Monroe County Home, failing to clean it properly between uses. The facility was cited for failure to comply with the established procedures regarding hand hygiene and equipment cleaning with suitable disinfectants – no harm to residents resulted from the incident. The facility will be teaching their staff blood glucose monitoring and infection control protocols, and will be monitoring glucose testing.

Families put a great deal of trust in the nursing homes where their loved ones reside, expecting competent care and appropriate treatment. If your loved one has been a victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, our nursing home abuse attorneys will pursue a legal claim to hold negligent care providers responsible for their actions.

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$10,043,952.13 Personal Injury
Schmidt Kramer, P.C.partner Gerard C. Kramer won a personal injury action for $10,043,952.13 in Northumberland County on behalf of a volunteer firefighter who was the victim of Intentional Tort. The 50-year-old volunteer firefighter was seriously injured when a barn collapsed, causing a spinal injury which left him a paraplegic. The claim was brought against the arsonist who intentionally started the fire. It is believed that the verdict is the highest ever in Northumberland County.
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$4,034,000.00 Personal Injury
Yesterday a Judge in Union County (Lewisburg, PA) awarded a couple from New Berlin, Pennsylvania, over $4,000,000 because the husband was shot while turkey hunting.You might ask yourself, how does a turkey hunting accident end up with that type of verdict? In order to understand the verdict you would have to know our clients. They are good people who had their life wrecked. Plus, you would have to know the defendant, who should not have been hunting with a gun because he was prohibited after a previous criminal conviction.It is a good verdict, because the Judge was able to do two things with his decision. First, he communicated to two very good people that their losses were something that those of us on the outside could appreciate and value. Mike Hobbins (our client) is a 51 year old guy who lost his sight because a convicted felon --who should not have even possessed a gun-- went hunting illegally, and broke with impunity the most fundamental rule in hunting: identify your target before you pull the trigger. The Judge accepted the financial loss Mr. Hobbins' suffered, but listened closely to the evidence of less tangible losses. When Mike broke down on the stand, because his daughter would end up walking him down the aisle at her wedding, as opposed to how it was supposed to go, the Judge was listening. When Mike could not keep it together, because of how emasculating it was for him not to be able to provide financially for his family, the Judge was listening. It was facts like these that the Judge cited to support the $2,000,000 award for non-economic damages. Second, the Judge wanted to send a message. Union County is a hunting county. Many of the residents hunt there, and people from outside the area come to Union County to hunt. It was my impression, from the Judge's statements as he rendered his decision, that he wanted to send a message to the people in Union County to protect them in their sport. The rules in place to restrict people convicted of crimes not to have a gun are not to be broken. Hunting is serious and you have to identify your target before you shoot. When you turn your back on the rules that are set to provide safety in a sport, you risk being an example. Here, the $1,000,000 punitive damage award sends that message loud and clear.When it really comes down to brass tacks, the right action was taken against a Defendant who may never truly appreciate what kind of impact his reckless choices caused.At Schmidt Kramer, we are injury lawyers. That means we work with people who were hurt in car accidents, who were hurt by the neglect of nursing homes, or those that were seriously injured because of the reckless, thoughtless acts of others. If you or a loved one have been injured in Pennsylvania, we may be able to help. While the verdict yesterday is not one that is representative of every case we do, it does show that serious and dedicated representation can bring good results.Joe ChapmanJanuary 18, 2013
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$1,200,000.00 Personal Injury
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Multiple Violations Reported in Nursing Homes throughout Pennsylvania