A Sarasota nursing home that the state ordered to shut down has closed its doors even earlier than expected.The state had insisted that Harmony Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center stop operating by September 22, but the Agency for Health Care Administration says the last patient was discharged on September 12.
The nursing facility had its state and federal funding cut off last month after inspectors uncovered a series of alleged violations, from not documenting when narcotics were distributed to patients, to one instance in which the facility made a patient's medical decisions after failing to collect paperwork that would have allowed her a legal guardian.
While most families of the residents at Harmony found other nursing homes soon after the shutdown was announced last month, one family is enduring a situation that's heartbreaking for them and more costly for taxpayers. Elizabeth Pitchford's son, Todd, has cerebral palsy and depends on a ventilator. For two and a half years, he lived at Harmony, one of the only facilities in the state to accept long-term ventilator patients.
By the time Harmony shut its doors, no other facility was willing to accept Todd, and he was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital - not because he's sick, but because there's nowhere else for him to go.
A report from The Florida Department of Health shows that for years the state has been concerned with ventilator-dependent patients staying in hospitals because there's no nursing home for them. The report says putting an end to that could save a lot of money for Medicaid and for taxpayers.
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Nursing Home Closure Forces Resident to Live in Hospital
In my home state there are facilities which have primarily ventilator patients. It surprises me that Florida doesn't have the same.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine having to spend all of my days in a hospital. I hope something gets worked out for this gentleman.
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