Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
The Del Rosa Villa nursing home in San Bernardino received the state’s harshest citation after investigators concluded that inadequate care led to a resident’s suicide. The California Department of Public Health issued a AA citation and a fine of $90,000.
According to reports, on June 11, 2009 a 52-year-old resident was found hanging from a fence in the parking lot of the nursing home. He apparently had rolled his wheelchair through a back entrance to the nursing home and into parking lot where he hung himself with a belt
The man’s care plan, which all skilled nursing facilities must maintain for patients, required that he be under suicide watch at all times, and that a nursing assistant admitted to investigators that she made a mistake. It was not the man’s first attempt at suicide. He was in the facility from an acute care hospital where he was admitted after throwing himself in front of a moving vehicle.
In response to the citation, the nursing facility’s attorney Elizabeth Tyler disputed the report that the resident required constant supervision. “We serve as a hospital,” she said, “not a mental institution.”
The nursing home may challenge the state’s findings.
Source: The Press Enterprise
The San Bernardino elder abuse attorneys at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have suffered due to abuse or neglect in the nursing home setting. Call today for a free consultation.
