December 20, 2011 – According to reports two nursing homes have been fined in Orange County. According to the California Department of Health two nursing homes have been fined in the deaths of patients that did not receive the proper care. Each of the long term facilities received the most drastic citation possible under the law.
There was an investigative report into an incident in the Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Newport Beach that was fined $100,000 after a female patient was admitted to the care facility in August and fell while left unattended in the bathroom. According to the investigation the woman was admitted after hip surgery and needed the staff to assist her when using the toilet. In September, according to the report in September she was left alone in the bathroom by a nursing assistant, when another employee found her face down on the bathroom floor without a pulse. The woman was transported to the hospital, where she later died.
The nursing facility in Newport Beach submitted a plan to the state to correct staff behavior, which stated they provided additional training. The second nursing home that was fined was Emeritus in Yorba Linda that was fined $90,000 from an incident that occurred when a female patient choked. The woman’s doctor had ordered that she be served chopped meat, because she had difficulty in chewing and swallowing. The woman was found blue with a partially eaten ham sandwich in front of her. Reportedly a nursing assistant forgot to give the woman her dentures. The woman was transported to the hospital where a large piece of meat was removed from her throat, blocking her airway. The woman died six days later from respiratory and cardiac arrest, caused by choking. Emeritis stated that they will appeal the fine and in their corrective plan the nurses will verify that the proper meal is being served to the patient.