Nursing home makes changes to correct deficiencies

Martin nursing home on federal focus list

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal staff | Friday, February 15, 2008

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A federal list identifying the Bennett County Hospital and Nursing Home as one of 54 poorest performing nursing homes in the nation does not tell the whole story, according to Joe Caldwell, administrator of the nursing home and hospital administrator.

"When you read what the deficiencies are, ... they sound so horrible," Caldwell said. "But, the worst thing we had in a few years was a woman stepping outside on a warm summer day for three minutes. It's not nearly as bad as the categories they put it in and make it sound like."

The Martin nursing home appears on a list of 133 nursing homes published Tuesday by the Bush administration. The facilities on the list are designated for special focus because of quality-of-care issues.

The Martin nursing home is listed as one of 54 that have not shown improvement in the health and safety issues that were identified during inspections.

Aberdeen Health and Rehabilitation is the other South Dakota nursing home on the federal list and is classified as having made improvements.

Deficiencies in health and fire safety were identified during the inspections of the Bennett County Nursing Home, according to the federal oversight agency Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Among the deficiencies noted, in addition to the resident wandering outside, were the absence of decorative covers on fire sprinklers, a basement stairway without a door and the lack of a certified dietary supervisor at the time of the inspection.

Nursing homes are inspected by the state Office of Health Care Facilities Licensure and Certification about every nine to 15 months, according to Bob Stahl, the office's program administrator.

Stahl said the state is required to identify two nursing homes for the CMS Special Focus Facilities Program.

"By and large, nursing homes in our state are doing a good job compared to the rest of the nation," Stahl said. The inspections are only one tool the public should use when selecting a nursing home, he said.

Once a nursing home is identified as a "special focus facility" by the

Federal oversight agency, it takes two favorable survey scores to remove the facility from the list, Caldwell said. Nursing homes on the list are inspected every six months.

Caldwell did not learn that his nursing home was identified on a national list until it became public for the first time last November.

"I was told I was on a list, but not what it was," he said.

Stahl confirms that the state was not permitted to notify the nursing homes they were on the federal list.

"They didn't want the facilities to know until they went public," he said.

Caldwell said that the nursing home has made several changes since receiving low scores on the surveys. The surveys serve a purpose, he said.

"For the most part, they're good advice," Caldwell said. "If I was to pay somebody to come in and give me this advice, it would cost a lot of money."

Surveyors from Stahl's office visited the Bennett County Nursing Home this week.

After visiting with the surveyors, Caldwell is confident that the nursing home will receive a higher score than it did last August. His staff is working very hard to make changes at the facility, he said.

"This is something that we're taking very seriously, and we are putting a lot of work into improvements," he said.

Questions or concerns about nursing home care?

The South Dakota Department of Social Services has a Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program to advocate for and protect the rights of residents in long-term care or assisted living facilities.

Area ombudsmen receive, investigate and seek to resolve complaints from, or on behalf of, residents of long-term care and residential facilities.

For more information call 1-866-854-5465 or e-mail ASA@state.sd.us

To learn more about the Centers for Medicare and Medicate Services programs, go to www.cms.hhs.gov

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com