Where a nursing home resident was not legally incapacitated, was not cohorsed into signing a nursing home arbitration agreement and was not prevented from knowing that contents of the abrtriation agreement, the agreement was valid and the fact that the nursing home resident did not understand the agreement did not make said agreement invalid. Rocky Creek Retirement Properties, Inc. The estate of Fox 34 FLWD 2067 (Fla 2nd DCA 10-9-09)
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Orlando Sentimental-January 21, 2009-Rachel Jackson-A Sanford assisted living facility was closed after the State of Florida revoked its license due to concerns about patient/resident treatment. According to the article staff members at the Lake Jessup retirement home yelled at residents. Apparently investigators were told that staff members had been seen slapping residents on the shoulder or hands. Apparently this same facility was cited by the state last year when a patient suffered bruises from what was thought to be a seizure or a stroke, but 911 was not called until the following day. Apparently, before the 14-bed facility can reopen its doors, it’s owners must pay $20,500 in fines and apply for a license.
For more information on Nursing Homes Click Here: http://www.brevardlaywer.com/html/nursing-home-abuse.html
AARP Bulletin (April 2008, Vol. 49, No. 3)
J. Sparaga was evicted from a South Florida assisted living facility in February 2008. Mr. Sparaga was told he was evicted because of his “aggressive behavior.” Mr. Sparaga contested the assisted living facility’s position. Unfortunately, he had no chance to plead his case. Why not? Because Florida’s assisted living facilities can discharge residents for any reason or no reason at all, as long as they provide 45 days notice. Further, residents, who are not covered by landlord-tenant laws, cannot appeal. Legislation in Tallahassee is pending that would require assisted living facilities to give residents a reason for discharging them and set up an appeal process. This law would apply in Brevard County.
According to Stacy Merritt, Elder Abuse Prevention Coordinator-Department of Elder Affairs, aging adults are integral to Florida’s growth and success. Elders are tax payers, volunteers, voters, and are active in making Florida a great place to live overall. However, according to Ms. Merritt, seniors who remain in the community are also in danger of becoming isolated which can foster elder abuse as well as neglect, both of which are harmful and can lead to horrific outcomes. Elder abuse in Florida and, in particular, in Brevard County is not rare. Ms. Merritt points out that elder abuse is becoming an epidemic. According to her one way to prevent elder abuse is to reach out to socially isolated elders. Those of us who live in Titusville, Cocoa, Merritt Island, Melbourne and Palm Bay should check on our neighbors, friends and family, and do so often. As citizens of Brevard County we should make sure seniors are living in clean surroundings, have fresh food, and enough of it. Make sure your elderly neighbors have their utility services on, have access to prescription medication and that no one is exploiting their finances. One resource that could help connect Brevard County seniors with life-sustaining services is the Florida Elder Help Line at 1-800-96E-LDER (1-800-963-5337). As stated by Ms. Merritt, “our seniors are Florida’s greatest national treasure. Let us love and honor them. Do not allow them to fade away into isolation.” It is the responsibility of all of us in Brevard County to care for our elders as well as ourselves.
According to a Tampa Tribune article (03/11/08) when the florida legislature passed nursing home reforms in 2001, it promised to protect the care and dignity of nursing home residents. According to the article the state should keep its promise. Times are not so tough that those who live in nursing homes should bear the brunt of state budget cuts. Yet in January 2008 Florida cut 75 million dollars from the Medicaid fund that supports nursing-home care for the poor. Now law makers are considering a 139 million dollar cut. To make matters worse, the article points out that at the same time, the federal Medicare program wants to cut 24 billion dollars from nursing home budgets nationwide. According to nursing home administrators these cuts will have to come out of what’s spent on social services, building maintenance and personal care items such as dentures, hearing aids and glasses. However, the Florida health care association pledges not to seek a reduction in state-mandated staffing levels. Currently, Florida requires nursing-home residence (this includes Brevard County) to have at least 2.9 hours of attention from certified nursing-home assistant, in addition to care from a nurse, per day. This staffing standard-the highest in the county was negotiated in return for legislation making it more difficult for residents to make it more difficult to sue nursing homes. Brevard County legislators should stand strong for the most frail and vulnerable among us- those in nursing homes, children in need of protection and the severely developmentally disabled. If our Brevard County legislators cannot do that, Florida doesn’t just have a fiscal crisis, it has a moral crisis as well.
According to an article in the March 2008 issue of A.A.R.P. Bulletin (Katharine Greider), experts advise taking precautions to hire the right home care agencies and aides. These precautions include the following: Check them out - According to the article some agencies are Medicare-certified. For agencies not Medicare-certified, individuals should check to see if they are licensed which is required in certain states. The article also suggests obtaining referrals from generic care managers or doctors. Finally, one should meet the aid before he or she starts, and talk to other families who have worked with the aid.
Ask questions – Does the agency do background checks on its employees? How does it handle turnover? Are the aides salaried? Do they get benefits? How are they monitored?
Stay in touch - The article goes on to say that family members should make unannounced visits at different times of the day or week. The patient should be asked about the care they have received and observations should be noted.
Complain – Finally, the article says that for problems with a Medicare-certified agency or aid one can call their state=s home health hotline or the Medicare hotline at 1-800-633-4227.
The A.A.R.P suggests an interested party should go to www.medicare.gov and search Ahome health.@ to learn more.
Nursing Homes in Brevard County protect themselves from bad acts and limit their liability through corporate restructuring according to the Journal of Health Law (Fall 2003, Vol. 36, No. 4).This article is essentially a “how to guide” that explains how and why to restructure a nursing home chain into multiple limited liability corporations. The article is shockingly candid in that it lays out exactly how and why the nursing home industry is moving to this corporate shell game with separate real estate LLC’s and separate operations LLC’s. The implicit (and almost explicit) message behind the entire article is “how to make millions of dollars in government funds without recourse for over payments, and how to mistreat elderly residents without liability.” Unfortunately, many of Brevard County’s nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities have adopted this corporate shell game as a way of doing business. There is currently pending in Tallahassee, legislation that would provide some transparency to this corporate LLC nursing home shell game. Let’s hope for the good of Brevard’s elderly and incapacitated nursing home residents that it passes.
According to the New York Law Journal ( 02/27/08) a lawyer that advised ten nurses that they were free to quit their jobs at a Long Island, N.Y. nursing home facility now faces thirteen criminal charges as a result of the nurses walk out. Manhattan based attorney, Felix Q. Vinluan stated “I am really surprised that I am a defendant in this criminal case. I was just doing my job.”
However, according to the local district attorney’s office the ultimate action of the nurses, walking out, endangered five chronically ill children and one terminally ill man when they left their positions without giving sufficient notice to administrators to find replacements. According to the Suffix County New York Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Vinluan was indited, along with the nurses, because he did more than just advise his clients (the nurses) of their rights. According to the D.A., Mr. Vinluan was an active participant in soliciting the nurses to do what they did. Vinluan’s response was that he merely gave the nurses advise, not instructions. Apparently, the nurses, who have been practicing in the U.S. since 2005, complained to attorney Vinluan about receiving substandard pay, shabby living conditions, changes in work assignments and other violations of their three year contracts.
A Baker County Florida Woman is Accused of Stealing Thousands of Dollars From Residents at a Nursing Home.
Baker County, Florida Sheriff Joey Dobson said, AIn the past nine months, a woman by the name of Katherine Dupree, age 35, allegedly stole more than $200,000.00 from the senior citizens at the W. Frank Wells Nursing Home.@ Sheriff Dobson said that Ms Dupree, who apparently worked at the nursing home, took checks that were written to the facility to go into the patients= trust accounts to pay for their services and instead of transferring the funds, wrote the checks to herself. Apparently, Dupree stole a total of $211,000.00 by writing herself a number of checks ranging from $300.00 to $1,700.00 apiece. Dupree is charged with three counts of felony grand larceny, passing stolen checks and forgery. She is currently being held in the Baker County, Florida jail without bond.
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