Nursing Home Operator Cathedral Rock Corporation Fined by State

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Jennifer Foote

As the Santa Fe New Mexican reports today, Cathedral Rock Corporation recently paid $4000 in fines as part of a settlement agreement with the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department.

In December 2009, Cathedral Rock was issued a notice of violation after concerns raised by the state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman involving the Sunshine Haven and Silver City Care Centers.  The violation stemmed from the nursing home's plan for inappropriate resident transfers and discharge, but also involved misinformation conveyed to nursing home employees about the ombudsman's involvement and approval of the plan. 

Disturbingly, once the ombudsman's office was actually involved, and stopped the planned, improper transfer, Cathedral Rock senior staff criticized the ombudsman's office and also publicly criticized the staff who were thought to have contacted the ombudsman.

Under New Mexico law, ombudsmen have both the right and the duty to investigate any claims of nursing home resident abuse or neglect.  It is not proper for a nursing home to interfere with their right of access, or to retaliate against staff or residents for contacting the ombudsman's office. The law specifically states that  "No person shall institute discriminatory, disciplinary or retaliatory action against any resident, employee or other person for filing a complaint, providing information to or otherwise cooperating with a representative of the [ombudsman's] office." 

In addition to the fine, as part of the settlement, Cathedral Rock issued an apology to its staff for its "inappropriate and unprofessional behavior."

We reported earlier this year on the penalties imposed on Cathedral Rock for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and about the cases pending against the Cathedral Rock nursing homes in Santa Fe.  Cathedral Rock operates 10 nursing homes in New Mexico: 

Santa Fe Care Center

Casa Real (Santa Fe)

Sunshine Haven (Lordsburg)

Silver City Care Center

Bloomfield Nursing and Rehab

Clayton Nursing and Rehab

Espanola Valley Nursing and Rehab

Red Rocks Care Center (Gallup)

Raton Nursing and Rehab

Country Cottage Care and Rehab (Hobbs)

Tags:

Nursing Home Residents Should Keep Their Primary Care Doctors

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Harvey Law Firm Attorneys

Every nursing home resident has the right to choose her own doctor. A nursing home may ask you to consent to have the facility’s medical director be your new primary physician. But, a nursing home resident is not required to accept a facility’s medical director as her new doctor.

Please resist any idea that it will be more convenient for the medical director to be your doctor because he comes to the facility frequently. There are several reasons why you should keep your old doctor even though your new nursing home has a medical director that visits the facility frequently.

First, your doctor already knows you and your health conditions. Your old doctor may be able to remember that you didn’t always live in a nursing home or assisted living facility and may have a better sense of your ability to recover from illness or injury. This is a valuable perspective that a nursing home’s medical director may not have.

A nursing home’s medical director may have come to expect a certain turn-over rate for his nursing home patients and may not invest time or effort into a new relationship that he does not expect to last. In addition, a nursing home medical director probably feels some loyalty to the nursing home because it is a significant source of patients and business. Consciously or unconsciously, a medical director may be reluctant to criticize the nursing home’s care because he doesn’t want to jeopardize this source of business. You want a doctor whose primary loyalty is to you or your loved one and who will be your care advocate.

It is certainly possible that a doctor who is also a medical director will make a good primary care doctor. However, I have observed that some of the best advocates for better nursing home care for all residents are the doctors who visit just a few patients in the nursing home. These doctors simply tend to have higher expectations. You have a right to those higher expectations.

Tags: , ,