Ann Arbor-area nursing home where maggots infested patient also had more-serious violations
Whitehall Healthcare Center of Ann Arbor.
Jeff Sainlar | AnnArbor.com
The violations at Whitehall Healthcare Center of Ann Arbor included failure to supervise two residents in wheelchairs, both of whom were injured as a result; failure to provide a sanitary, comfortable and orderly interior; failure to adequately monitor the fluid intake and output for a patient who became dehydrated; and failure to maintain complete staff personnel files and complete required certification, license and background checks.
The documents, obtained by AnnArbor.com in a Freedom of Information Act request, also show that a nursing assistant said maggots were still in the genital area of a 66-year-old woman unable to get out of bed on her own three days after their initial discovery. Staff members told a state inspector they had observed flies on and near the woman about two weeks before the discovery of the maggots and one staffer even reported telling a supervisor “she’s gonna get maggots.”
The documents shed more light on conditions at the 102-bed nursing home, which has been identified through state inspections as among the worst in Michigan.
Whitehall was thrust into the public spotlight earlier this month when the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, a federally funded agency that advocates for the disabled, publicized the discovery of maggots on the patient at Whitehall and a patient at Cambridge South Nursing Home in Beverly Hills.
Whitehall, 3370 East Morgan Road, was fined $17,000 for the violations, and the state recommended other penalties to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
A follow-up visit from the state in October found all problems at the nursing home cited in the September inspection had been corrected, a state official said Thursday. However, another inspection on Oct. 27 found several new violations, although none as serious as several of those in the September report.
Marsha Austin, a communications specialist representing the nursing home, said some employees were terminated following the investigation into the discovery of the maggots, but the facility declined comment beyond a statement issued earlier this month by administrator John DeLuca.
That statement said: “At Whitehall Healthcare Center of Ann Arbor, the comfort, care and well-being of our residents and patients are our top priority. While federal regulations prevent us from providing detail on this specific patient, we can tell you that the matter was addressed immediately after it was identified. Any substandard care is unacceptable. We have and will continue to work with our caregivers and regulators to review all of our practices to ensure our residents receive the highest quality of care.”
A plan of correction the nursing home submitted to the state mentioned that one employee, a unit manager, had been discharged from the nursing home. It also noted the correction of all physical problems found at the nursing home and detailed retraining and procedures implemented to address the other violations in the state’s report.
The recent inspection findings have allowed Whitehall to move up a notch on a federal agency’s list of “special focus facilities.” Whitehall, which had been in the not-improved category on the list, has now been moved into the category called “facilities that have shown improvement.”
Howard Schaefer, director of the state’s division of nursing home monitoring, said Whitehall could be considered for removal from the list in April if another standard inspection of the nursing home finds no serious problems.
Special focus facilities are those identified as having have had a pattern of serious problems over three years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services maintains the list. Michigan has four out of about 440 nursing homes on the list at any one time.
Mike Pemble, director of the state’s Bureau of Health Systems, which conducts the state inspections, said the agency would continue to monitor Whitehall, but after the October visit found no serious violations at the nursing home, he believes Whitehall can meet standards of proper care.
“We have confidence or we wouldn’t clear them that they’re doing things right,” he said.
Angil Tarach-Ritchey, a registered nurse who runs her own private-duty nursing company in the Ann Arbor area and who has worked in elder care and advocacy for more than 30 years, is not convinced.
“This isn’t a problem that just happened and this isn’t a problem that’s going to go away,” she said. “How the care is provided in a facility stems from the ownership and administration.”
Shocking discovery
A nursing assistant found maggots in the genital area of a 66-year-old woman who had a urinary catheter at 5:59 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2011. A nursing home incident report said the patient “was offered a shower, which she refused, so she was ‘immediately’ given a bed bath by staff.”
However, in interviews with a state inspector on Aug. 30 and 31, a nursing assistant and the charge nurse said the woman did not get a shower because the nursing home did not have enough staff. Both the nursing assistant and the charge nurse told the state inspector the nurse used saline solution to rinse the area. But not all of the maggots came off, the assistant said.
Two nursing assistants told state inspectors that they had seen flies in wounds on the woman’s legs about two weeks before the maggots were discovered. One of them reported telling the unit manager and the director of nursing “she’s gonna get maggots.” The aide reported being instructed to document that the woman refused showers. The state report quotes the aide saying, “They let her lay there and they didn’t change her wounds (dressings) and they didn’t want to argue with her.”
A nurse manager came to the facility around noon to give the resident a shower the day the maggots were discovered. She told the inspector she saw “one or two maggots, but I think there were more.” She also said a “clinical corporate person” wanted her to document the discovery on the incident report as debridement. “They wouldn’t let me put maggots down on the incident report,” she said.
Another nursing assistant reported observing a nurse manager removing maggots from the woman’s genital area three days after the discovery of the maggots.
The woman was sent to the hospital on Aug. 28 and diagnosed with septic shock secondary to a urinary tract infection, chronic skin ulcers and kidney stones. Later tests and examinations revealed she had a broken hip likely due to bone thinning and extensive skin changes due to poor hygiene and refusing to be turned.
The patient, interviewed at the hospital and later back at the nursing home, admitted that she had refused showers, but said she did not refuse bed baths and that the staff would not give her bed baths. She reported suffering from severe leg and hip pain. She said a mechanical lift used to transfer her to a shower chair caused pain and sitting on the hard shower chair hurt her back.
The state report indicated the woman had a history of chronic pain and leg ulcers, severe osteoarthritis, anxiety, depression, obesity, chronic urinary tract infections, high blood pressure and heart failure.
The woman told the state inspector that she was embarrassed by the maggot incident. She said she had told staff at the nursing home about seeing flies in her room and in the hall but no one did anything. She also said she told staff her catheter needed cleaning, but “they wouldn’t wash my catheter. There were times it was weeks before they cleaned my catheter.”
In its plan of correction, the nursing home stated the resident is now offered daily bed baths and her doctor and a family member will be notified if she refuses. Regular catheter care is also provided.
While the poor care that allowed the maggot infestation is perhaps the most shocking of the violations detailed in the September report, the state regards it as less serious than others cited. Violations are ranked on a scale for severity and scope, providing a measure of how many residents were affected and how many times a violation has occurred. Grades are given, with A being the least serious and L being the worst.
The discovery of maggots in the patient’s genital area ranked as a D, while the failure to provide a sanitary environment and failure to maintain the records were ranked Fs. The failure to monitor the fluid intake and output of a resident and failure to supervise residents in wheelchairs ranked as Gs.
Wheelchair injuries
Nursing home staff left a 40-year-old woman at risk for bone fractures alone in an electric wheelchair on July 4, 2011. She drove the wheelchair unsupervised and ran it into a door, fracturing her leg. The wheelchair has since been removed from the resident's room.
On Aug. 3, 2011, a man who had had his left leg amputated because of poor circulation fell out of his wheelchair while a private contractor was transporting him from his doctor’s office to the nursing home. The state inspector determined the driver secured the wheelchair to the van floor but did not use a seat belt for the resident, and he slid out of the wheelchair and suffered an abrasion to his right toe. The resident had decreased circulation and an ulcer on his right foot, putting him at increased risk for infection.
Both the resident and the van driver said the resident was transported in the wheelchair in a reclining position. The van driver said he did not secure the seatbelt because he feared it would choke him because the wheelchair was in a reclining position.
The nursing assistant and an administrator denied any responsibility for the accident, saying it was the driver’s responsibility to properly secure the patient. The facility’s plan of correction for the incident said the transportation company is no longer being used.
Dirt and disrepair
The state cited Whitehall for failing to maintain a sanitary environment in 20 patient rooms, three resident showers, a public restroom, the front lobby, a breezeway and the activity room/main dining room, “resulting in the potential for rodent infestation and the spread of communicable disease.”
Among the problems noted:
- At least 11 patient rooms as well as the activity room/dining room, entrance hallway and resident breezeway had air conditioners with filters caked with dust and dirt and with large gaps around the units enabling flies and other insects to enter the facility.
- In one resident’s room several Depends diapers, two broken hangers, soiled clothes and a used medical glove were on the floor.
- Dirty floors were noted in some residents’ rooms and bathrooms. At least one resident told an inspector. “I don’t like it here. It’s dirty.”
- The nursing home’s ice machine was broken and had been that way for months. Residents complained about the lack of ice and lack of cold water provided for drinking.
- The director of maintenance at the nursing home, who told the inspector he was new to the facility, agreed the nursing home “was in poor condition, unsafe for residents, families and visitors and needed repair and agreed all the facility air conditioners needed to be cleaned.” The director of housekeeping also agreed the facility was "dirty, unsafe ... and in need of cleaning and repair” and said “we are aware and are working on it.”
The plan of correction stated all air conditioners have been cleaned and gaps filled. All other cleanliness and maintenance issues were also addressed, it said.
Failure to keep and provide records
The state cited Whitehall for failure to maintain complete staff personnel files and complete certification, license and background checks. The nursing home also refused to turn over some records the state inspector requested.
Among the findings:
- One nurse’s personnel file had no proof of a nursing license.
- One nurse’s file had no proof of a background check.
- One nurse’s file had no proof of any orientation or competency check.
- The personnel files of two certified nursing assistants did not have proof of certification.
- One aide’s certification was expired.
- The inspector requested sheets showing documentation of residents’ showers but was told, “corporate is not letting us release the shower sheets to you because they are not part of the record.”
In the plan of correction for the violations, the nursing home said all files and certifications have been updated. The nursing home has also changed the way it documents showers.
Aftermath
Tom Masseau, government and media relations director for the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, said enforcement actions taken against the nursing home don’t go far enough. He said there should be more serious consequences for those who fail to take proper care of patients and that the maggot discovery should have been reported to Adult Protective Services or local law enforcement.
He acknowledged that one person was fired and that the nursing home has said it has retrained staff but said that’s not enough.
”If these are health-care professionals, they should know these things. If we continue to retrain and re-educate, it’s just a slap in the face to residents. Down the road there will be another violation.”
But Pemble, the Bureau of Health Systems director, said the state will be visiting again under the Special Focus Facility program to make sure the problems don't resurface.
"Sure you can correct it and you can put resources behind this issue, but we want to make sure that you’re going to continue that after we leave," Pemble said. “I think there’s a significant amount of oversight.”
Comments
Wes
Sun, Dec 11, 2011 : 11:05 p.m.
Hearing about this stuff I think the place should be shut down like right away. I don't understand why any place like this is still open. This place doesn't at all respect human dignity. Just looking at the picture im getting extreme negative energy. This place needs to go.
bulldog01
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 5:26 p.m.
Unbelieveable - how can they stay open??? I work in a field that places patient's in nursing homes and I would NEVER send anyone to Whitehall and no one else in my department does either. Unfortunately, Whitehall does accept Medicaid and not many facilities in the Ann Arbor area do - If they are any good they have 1-2 year waiting lists (I wonder why), so that is why some patients end up there. I would send someone out of the county before I would send them to Whitehall. I tell every family I meet NOT to go there it is AWFUL!
caringone
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 4:19 p.m.
I used to work at this place and it needs to be closed down! I wouldn't put my animal in there. You do have some caring staff but for the most part they hire anyone who needs a job they don't care as long as they have someone they can call an employee. They fire all the people who are any good and keep the ones who suck!! They do everything they can to save a buck. When the "corporate people" are supposed to be there to help they do nothing but make things worse. It is never going to change there no matter what they say. It only gets worse and worse by the year.
Lily'sMom
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 6:26 a.m.
The article states that when the patient was taken to U-M Hospital, it was determined that she had a broken hip, kidney stones, skin ulcers and septic shock. This is unbelievable! No wonder this poor woman did not want to be given a shower or turned while in bed. Since this wasn't known by the nursing home staff, it was also unlikely that the patient was receiving adequate pain medication, another terrible consequence of a poorly-run facility. She also could have easily died with septic shock. I did not see anything about probation for facilities with serious, dangerous issues. If all they need is one 'good' visit by the state in order to be removed from a list of facilities found to have serious violations, there isn't much urgency to make permanent changes to ensure that the issues no longer exist. Why is there no system of probation in place? Most people could equate these violations with criminal acts and they should be treated as such.
martini man
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 1:42 a.m.
Yikes .... If this were a prison housing sex criminals and murderers , I am certain things would be better. Even the mosr heinous monsters are treated better than our elderly who are not financially well off. The only crime these poor folks committed was to live to an old age. It's sad and disgusting. There probably are other facilities in the county that are almost, if not as pathetic.
ypsicat
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 1:36 a.m.
Gross. What I can't find in this reportage is who is the owner of this abomination. It was started by Lloyd Johnson, a local Republican activist (not that there's anything wrong with that, but...) who also owned WAAM radio station, but he passed away in 2003. I lived near this facility 20 years ago, and was very concerned about it due to the frequent wanderers, one in particular who somehow found her way into my home not once but twice in the middle of the night. When I walked Mrs. Russell back there (still remember her name after all this time), the staff was very concerned and reassuring to me, but I still had a bad feeling.
nurse
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 10:39 p.m.
First of all, this type of story not only creates many comments and opinions, it sells newspapers. Our State Government does advocate for quality of care for all nursing home resident's. In my opinion, this is visible (in Michigan Nursing Homes) by the increase in citations our nursing homes recieve and specifically, for quality measures. This community may see the closure of this home because of the recent cuts in MCR/MCD which impacts staffing and therefore, quality. Although reading about maggots on a human being makes us nauseated, maggots are helpful in cleaning out dead tissue in wounds. This is likely the reason for this resident's maggot exposure. I have seen maggots in a resident's wound around 30 years ago and from a nursing home in the Ann Arbor area (not Whitehall). Although I was mortified at the time thinking of the uncleanly care, this resident's wound healed well and without infection. The people that work in long term care are compassionate and sincerly strive to do the right thing for their resident's. I admit, there are a few that don't care about working and just want to collect a paycheck. I think we have all encountered this type of person. Eventually, they leave or are discharged. The more nursing homes are regulated by the State and Federal governments, the more difficult it is to monitor quality as we create more paperwork through monitors rather than have the ability to hire more qualified people to care for frail elderly persons. I agree that the State needs more MCD long term care institutions but, how will business grow or survive with the budget cuts? I am certain that Whitehall has made good changes in their home and I wish them all the best.
psaume23
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 10:24 p.m.
Have the feds looked into this? HHS and the FBI may have jurisdiction based on the Medicare funding. If these agencies have not yet been advised based on what has been reported, they should be.
Lets Get Real
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 9:38 p.m.
so Angel should buy the facility and correct its problems and run it effectively and effeciently.
bedrog
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 7:34 p.m.
Outrageous. It sounds like it would take pythons ( rather than mere maggots) in catheters to get the attention of these people .
julieswhimsies
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 7:16 p.m.
There's a special place in hell for people who operate these horrid facilities, and the negligent employees who take part, or look away.
BhavanaJagat
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 5:59 p.m.
The Role of Compassionate Care : A few years ago, myself, my wife, and son had actually visited this facility and spent time visually inspecting the entire building to see as to how it may be of any use if a family member who needed nursing and rehabilitative care were to be admitted there. I was not impressed as I could not find a cheerful face among those patients. My intention is not to take this opportunity to blame the staff or the owner. I was satsified with the staff and the responses they gave to my inquiries. At a fundamental level, there is a problem with our concept of health care. I have tried my best to invite U of M School of Public Health into a discussion and they adamantly refuse to get involved. Ms. Angil Ritchey, RN has spoken about the need for Compassionate Care. Do they teach the concept of Compassionate Care at our Nursing Schools? We use terms and phrases without attaching a conceptual basis to those words. To provide Compassionate Care, we have to understand and know the Source of Compassion. Compassion is not a commodity that could be purchased at a store and it is not marketed by hospitals or pharmacies. I describe Compassion as the characteristic of Intraspecific Biotic Interactions. When two living entities interact while sharing a common environment and space, for being members of a natural biotic community, the interaction could display characteristics such as cooperation, sympathy, tolerance, compassion, mutual assistance, devotion, functional subservience, and functional subordination to provide some benefit to the partner participating in the biotic interaction. I call such biotic interaction as Spiritualism. We need to include this term as a health care concept and teach it to our nursing students, medical students and others who may desire to provide health care services. <a href="http://bhavanajagat.com/2011/11/16/science-and-spiritualism-biotic-interactions-and-consciousness/" rel='nofollow'>http://bhavanajagat.com/2011/11/16/science-and-spiritualism-biotic-interactions-and-consciousness/</a>
RUKiddingMe
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 5:56 p.m.
There is some good, detailed, specific information in here. Please do a similar report for how SPARK accounts for money given to it. For instance, some line items, including dollar amounts, from the "Business Services" provided to Ann Arbor. A separate report on the money spent on Fuller Transit Station and how it is justified would also be excellent reading material and a chance to cut some journalistic teeth.
snapshot
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 5:31 p.m.
Cindy, I hear a lot of rhetoric from union advocates about quality of care being affected by union affiliation. Does this facility employ union or non union medical personnel? Also, is there an investigation of any kind taking place with the regulatory agencies as to inspection frequency and quality of inspection? There is currently controversy involving union and non union contractors in a Grand Rapids Veterans hospital that is in the process of converting from union employees to non union contract personnel. There seems to be no data for comparison but the union position is that patient safety is threatened with non union personnel and the VA management position is that negligent and inadequate care occurs with union employees also. It would be nice to separate fact from fiction when it comes to patient care. Is this kind of data comparison possible?
dotdash
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 4:32 p.m.
Long-term facilities where patients are paid for by Medicaid will never meet high quality standards. How can they? From the GAO: "a 2002 industry-sponsored study reported that nursing home costs for Medicaid-covered residents in 2000 exceeded Medicaid payment rates an average of $10 per resident day". They lost $3650 per patient per year -- and that was 2000, before healthcare costs escalated to where they are now. I'm guessing there won't be *more* money for Medicaid in coming years, so maybe the learning is not to rely on Medicaid to take care of your aging relatives. Seriously.
Cash
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 7 p.m.
dotdash....so sad to see some Americans turn their backs on those in the most need.
dotdash
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 6:31 p.m.
I agree, Cash, it's terrible that Medicaid doesn't pay for adequate care. I'm just making the point that since US taxpayers and voters have said, loud and clear, that they would rather not shell out for adequate care, no one should imagine that care at these places will be good.
Cash
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 5:25 p.m.
And for those who have no relatives? no family? no income? Throwaways in the United States of America?
Michigan Man
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:36 p.m.
With such a great acute care system in the Ann Arbor area (SJMH, U of M,etc) one might think that the long term care side of healthcare around town would be more prestigious. I am a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator in the State of Illinois (Not currently in long term care but in acute care) and to this day I am still amazed at how different the two systems (acute v. long term care) are in almost all facets of operation. Somewhat surprised the U of M School of Public health is not more active in producing long term care side experts?
steve h
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:50 p.m.
We have quantity of life, not quality of life.
steve h
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:49 p.m.
It's all about the Benjamins. There's no money or glory in long term care. This kind of facility is also a result of our great heathcare system that is keeping people alive longer than they should so hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies can reap the profits. Also, patients and families themselves are to blame. There comes a time when enough is enough and nature should take it's course.
Sallyxyz
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:32 p.m.
This place needs to be closed down. Period. There are no excuses for this kind of disgusting health care facility to be in business for one more minute. All residents of the facility need to sue for the disgusting care they have received. Third world countries have much better facilities.
amazonwarrior
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:22 p.m.
I recently toured Whitehall and was told the facility was built in the mid to late 50's. The facility was disgusting to the point it should be torn down. Door frames around the shared bathrooms were rotting and moldy from water leaks around the toilets. The beds look like ancient army surplus, metal springs with a very thin, worn out mattress. When I left, my clothes reaked of a mold. It was obvious that most of the patients there were long term and medicaid recipients, but they do deserve a much better place to live and end their days. It broke my heart to see them living in those conditions! What has become of this country that it would let our seniors - the greatest generation - spend their "golden years" in such horrible conditions?
stunhsif
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 2:16 p.m.
This story is so very sad but calls to shut the place down would only hurt low income people that need help with loved ones. Not to defend Whitehall but I had a neighbor who spent his last two years at this facility, he was poor and had very little money so this was his only option. I made at least monthly visits to see John and I never saw the place dirty and it always seemed to be staffed at a reasonable level. The meals looked reasonably decent and portion size was never a problem as John was a big strong guy for his advanced age. I went several times with John down the hall for his physical therapy and they were always caring and concerned. John was a loner so he never joined in on daily social activities like bingo or sing-a-longs. John never had a bad word to say about the place other than stating that his room was very small. So as I see it, this is a bit too one sided. My visits were always without notice so they never had a chance to hide or cover anything up. Go Green Go White
Go Blue
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:57 p.m.
This makes no sense. Maggots? Worse conditions than that? What is everyone waiting for------a patient to die? Is that what it will take for this place to be shut down? Obviously, the problems have been and continue to be ongoing. Shut it down; it should have been done a long time ago.
Fred Crothers
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:47 p.m.
How long will this facility continue to function??!! For all my 60+ years in this area I've always heard this place was in hot water with the State for one thing after another! Why is it that our elderly are classed as 2nd class people after they are "retired" and need to be placed in a "home" where they are neglected, subjected to "abuse" and don't get the respect they so rightly deserve!! IF this and other facilities can't provide PROPER care then CLOSE the doors!
Sallyxyz
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 3:34 p.m.
Obviously the state regulators did not do their job on closing this place down during the last 60 years in light of all the violations.
DennisP
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:38 p.m.
It's always amazing how "federal regulations" always seem to prevent scum places like this from having to fully disclose their incompetency in the public record. I know HIPPA enough to know that was not its intent. You don't need to identify the patient to fully inform the public whose tax and social security dollars you're sucking up like a vacuum. Federal regulations do not protect malfeasance.
Michigan Reader
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
DennisP--There is available information on nursing home performance. HIPPA protects the caregiver--patient confidentiality, but there are performance reviews available online at: <a href="http://www.medicare.gov/nhcompare/" rel='nofollow'>www.medicare.gov/nhcompare/</a>
quitoslady
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:29 p.m.
They need to just shut the place down.
Angil Tarach-Ritchey RN, GCM
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:15 p.m.
I totally agree with Tom Masseau! Just like I said in the article, these problems didn't happen overnight and because the owner and administration never cared enough about these residents to provide the diligent and excellent that any real caring owner and administrators would provide and make sure is provided, the neglect will continue. They are only attending to these horrifying problems and conditions because the State is all over them right now. As soon as the State is satisfied with corrections and backs off the neglect will continue. I have worked in every area of long term care, and know the system from the inside. Every single long term care facility I've worked in knows the time frame the State will inspect. Every single one has scrambled like crazy when the inspectors show up to get things taken care of that should be regularly attended to. From the very 1st facility I worked in at the age of 17 years old, I thought "if they'd just do what they're supposed to do all the time, they wouldn't be scrambling and stessed out when the inspectors show up." I know for a fact that the care provided in any facility or agency is a direct reflection of the owner's focus. A caring and committed owner would never allow the conditions that have come to light at Whitehall. When your core intention is to provide compassionate and excellent care you hire individuals you believe hold those same values. If they turn out to not meet the standards of care they are let go. If an owner is soly focused on "business or money" they don't care who works there, just as ling as they have enough bodies to meet the States ratio of employees to patients. The employees do whatever they want without any consequences, and employees that actually do care don't stay because the lack of care and concern causes a constant source of stress. These continual violations prove that this owner and administrators are not capable of really caring for anyone. They should be charg
quitoslady
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1:33 p.m.
I agree they always know when the state is coming. There should be surprise inspections. I hope I never have to put my parents in a nursing home. There is no way a aide with ten or more patients, can give them the care they deserve.
Carole
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 1 p.m.
This is disgusting. Understaffed and dirty. I wonder if, once again, that profits are coming before taking care of some of our most precious individuals.
McGiver
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 12:53 p.m.
A thoroughly discusting facility. My sister-in-law died there and now, after reading these articles , wonder if we should have ordered an autopsy. This place, unfortunately, is one of the few in the area that can take a patient on medicaid.
superhappyfunbrett
Mon, Nov 21, 2011 : 2:57 a.m.
My foolish aunt put my grandmother in there years ago. She was put in while in good health. A few years later, I moved out this way. After reuniting with her, she complained that: employees at Whitehall were stealing money from her and others; refusing to feed her some days as "punishment"; she could hear people down the hall way screaming for help; and they never cleaned anything. I was in the process of making plans to remove her from there, when she suddenly "fell", hurt herself severely, and ended up passing away from her injuries. (They said she "fell", but she never had trouble walking. And she had bruises on her body that didn't coincide with the story Whitehall gave us.) She was in bad shape at the hospital, and couldn't speak much on her death bed. Doctors even said her injuries looked suspect. But as a grandchild of younger age at the time, I had little say in taking action. Everybody older in my family said to let it go. Reading the things I have about this place recently, I too wish I had taken more action. This just reinforces my belief that Whitehall ended my grandmother's life prematurely. That place is a disgrace. I hope they get what's coming to them. And I'm sure it won't be good news for them.
Evergreen
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 12:05 p.m.
The people responsible including Mike Pemble and Howard Schaefer need to be fined and fired period. First, imagine your own loved ones in this home. Under these inadequate state employees, Howard's response is next April 2012, 150 days from now, we may want to do something? He likes to monitor bad businesses for 3 years, over 1000 days! Mike says no serious violations, Whitehall HEALTHCARE is Okedoke. Admin and top people at Whitehall all need to go. Many other employees as well. A lot of good people looking for work now, and those patients need much better care than what sounds like a homeless camp in the middle of no where, or a poor third world country. Thanksgiving approaches what are these residents thankful for?
trespass
Sun, Nov 20, 2011 : 11:34 a.m.
This is not only a personal failure for the caregivers and the company but it also is a failure for the regulators and the government entitiies that are supposed to supervise the contractors that they pay for care of vulnerable adults and children. This is like the administrator for WCHO who claimed he did not know if the Renaissance Community Homes was a good provider or not even though he was responsible for signing and resigning their contracts. <a href="http://annarbor.com/health/renaissance-community-homes/">http://annarbor.com/health/renaissance-community-homes/</a>