LOS ANGELES - “I don't
think my father would've passed if they would've followed proper
protocol,” said Jamie Ivey of her father, James Ivey, who died of
coronavirus in April.
Ivey says she last saw her 78-year-old
father at Hollywood Premier Healthcare Center in Los Angeles March 11,
just days before the facility stopped allowing visitors due to the
coronavirus. She said beyond his diabetes, he was healthy.
Ivey said despite numerous calls to the facility to check on her dad as
the pandemic worsened, she was never able to speak to him and was always
told he was unavailable. Then, on April 15, she received a letter from
the nursing home informing her a resident had tested positive for
COVID-19. She says on April 19, she got through to a nurse who told her,
her father tested positive two weeks earlier.
“I called and called and called and they knew that whole time and never said a word,” said Ivey.
James
died the next day at Hollywood Premier. He was one of at least 19
Hollywood Premier residents to die from the virus by mid-May. Ivey is
now suing the nursing home for elder abuse and neglect and wrongful
death.
Ivey’s attorney, Dmitriy Cherepinskiy, asks: “Why they allowed the
outbreak to rage through the facility like wildfire and why so many
people have died, including Mr. Ivey.”
In a statement, Hollywood Premier denies the allegations, saying in
part: “The health and well-being of Hollywood Premier residents and
staff is the facility’s top priority.”
Ivey just wishes she would’ve known.
“If
I could've gotten him to the hospital soon enough maybe the outcome
would’ve been different," said Ivey. "Maybe not, but we'll never know."
PITTSBURGH —
A Pittsburgh nursing home is accused of failing to notify next of kin
after a resident died, and what happened next was even more dire.
90-year old Paul Tyler’s body was cremated without the family’s
knowledge or consent.
“Our family is devastated. We didn’t get a chance to bury him. We
didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye,” said Tyler’s granddaughter,
Danielle Miller. “I’m hurt and I’m frustrated, because my granddad was
loved.”
Family devastated
Corner View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
in Homewood is where Tyler lived for seven years. When Miller called
the nursing home before planning to visit this past Christmas, she was
stunned when they told her.
“The nursing assistant was like, ‘Oh, he passed away months ago.’ And we’re like, ‘What!?’”
A new company, Prestige Healthcare Group, LLC, took over management of
the facility in January and told Miller they had no contact information
for the family.
“I was like, ‘How is that even possible, when I’m the primary contact?
I’m the one that put him there!’, she told them. “I informed them, ‘You
guys have brought him to my house several times, he came to my mom’s
funeral, he came to my aunt’s funeral, we went to visit him when my dad
passed away and he’s been to my house. How did you not have, you know,
our information?’” Danielle said the employee’s response was, “I don’t
know.”
(Tyler Family (submitted))
Prestige Healthcare issues statement
Although Prestige Healthcare’s current administrator declined to
comment for our story, three days after the original report aired, 11
Investigates received a written statement from Corner View’s Regional
Director of Operations Steve Rech.
“The state looked in to the issue and found no wrongdoing on the part of the facility," Rech said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health
would not confirm Rech’s statement. A spokesperson would only say the
results of any complaint will be posted on their website 41 days after
it is closed out. In writing, the Department of Health promised to send
Danielle Miller a report with the conclusion of its investigation. She
said she has yet to receive any notification from the state.
Here is the complete statement sent to 11 Investigates from Corner View:
“In
accordance with the facility’s policy and procedure, the facility, as
well as other entities, attempted to contact the resident’s family
members who were named by the resident as that resident’s responsible
parties. The individual in question was not named by the resident as a
responsible party. The state looked in to the issue and found no
wrongdoing on the part of the facility. Corner View Nursing and
Rehabilitation Center has made great strides under new ownership in the
care and services of the residents in our community.”
Steve Rech, Regional Director of Operations
11 Investigates asked the facility for documentation regarding
assertions made in the statement. We still have yet to receive a
response from Corner View.
No next of kin found
Mr. Tyler died Oct. 30th and was taken to the Allegheny County Medical
Examiner’s Office as an unclaimed individual. The office said it tried
to locate next of kin, but only found Mr. Tyler’s estranged wife of more
than 20 years. When no one claimed his body -- as per their procedure,
he was sent for cremation.
“They said, ‘Well, he’s been here for so long we had to cremate him,'”
Danielle remembered the Medical Examiner’s Office telling her.
Making matters worse, Danielle was told she’d have to pay some $700 to
get her granddad’s ashes and death certificate, even though there would
have been no charge, had the family claimed the body before cremation.
Ball Funeral Home has the county contract for cremation. Funeral
Director Gary Ball says he had no idea of the circumstances surrounding
Tyler’s death.
“All we get is an email to say, ‘Such and such is ready for cremation,’” he explained.
Ball says the $700 fee covers the cost of cremation and can’t be waived
for one family, because then others will expect the same. Tyler’s
cremains are being held at the cremation facility and will eventually be
buried in a common grave with other unclaimed ashes unless someone
comes forward to cover the cost of cremation.
VIDEO: How to check the records of a nursing home
Corner View’s troubling record
Research on Corner View shows a history of serious violations,
including dangerous sanitation issues in February of 2019 that put
residents in “Immediate Jeopardy.” The facility has been tagged with the
dubious distinction of being a Special Focus Facility by the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The SFF designation is
reserved for the most troubled facilities in the country and requires
enhanced oversight. If progress is not made in correcting deficiencies,
SFF homes can lose their licenses.
The
map below shows which other nursing homes in Pennsylvania are on the
SFF list. Click on a blue pin for more information or scroll down to see
a chart with the names, locations and the number of months on the list.
Looking for answers
Miller said she left several messages with Corner View and wanted to
meet with them about what happened to her grandfather, but they wouldn’t
return her calls. She filed complaints with the Pennsylvania attorney
general and Department of Health.
“I’m not going to just let this go. They dropped the ball. They dropped the ball, big time,” she said.
11 Investigates went to the facility to try and get some answers. We
learned the administrator in charge when Tyler died, Rodney Brooks, is
no longer with Corner View or Prestige Healthcare Group. His last day
was Feb. 5th, just two weeks after Miller filed her complaint with the
state’s Department of Health.
We tracked down Brooks, and he agreed to talk with 11 Investigates by
phone. He says he left his job because of a disagreement with the owner,
but maintains the facility improved under his watch.
“When I took over the building in February of 2019, the facility was in
trouble with the Department of Health,” Brooks said. He said Corner
View went from 30 serious violations down to five low level deficiencies
in its latest survey in December of 2019.
“We put systems in place, did a lot of training, updated policy and
procedures and provided the tools necessary for staff to use,” he said.
(Tyler Family (submitted))
Brooks said the facility did have a policy to notify family when a
resident dies, and that it included: first trying to reach next of kin
by phone; then sending a certified letter to their last known address;
and finally searching on social media. When asked why that didn’t happen
in Tyler’s case, he said he felt bad, but offered little explanation.
“I do not have the chart in front of me, so I can’t make a comment about it,” he said.
He did say there was an investigation and that the report was turned over to their legal department.
As for the family…
“Well, my condolences to the family,” he said.
His words rang hollow for Miller. She now hopes her complaint to the
state will have impact and that Corner View will be held accountable.
“I think it’s negligence,” she said. “It’s very heartless. You don’t do that to somebody.”
How to check out a nursing home
Pennsylvania is fourth in the country for citizens older than 65, and
many families are facing the difficult decision of finding a nursing
home to care for their loved one. If you’re in this situation, be sure
to research the facility’s record.
To check out a nursing home you can go to CMS’s Nursing Home Compare website to view information about a nursing home’s star ratings, staffing, quality measure and inspection results.
Another resource is the Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. They act a advocates for nursing home residents, so if you see a problem you can call them to see if they can help.
You can also visit the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s inspection survey site to look up inspection surveys on Pennsylvania’s more than 700 nursing homes.
The state conducts inspections at the facilities at least once a year. Depending on the seriousness of any deficiencies found, different consequences may be given to the facility. Examples include:
imposing a ban on admissions and/or readmissions
issuing a provisional license
revoking a nursing facility’s license
taking away its right to participate in federal Medicare or state Medicaid programs
imposing a civil money penalty
If your loved one is in a nursing home and you see something of
concern, you can make a complaint to the PA Department of Health
anonymously by calling 800-254-5164, filling out the online complaint form, emailing c-ncomplai@pa.gov, or sending the complaint in the mail to the department.
It’s also a good idea to check with the nursing home to make sure they
have current contact information for the family and to periodically
check the facility’s inspection reports.
