On June 6. 2013, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) substantiated the occurrence of resident abuse by an employee of Park River Estates Care Center, a nursing home in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. [Report no. H5448027]
The MDH investigation determined that the nursing home’s employee injured the dementia resident when the employee grabbed the resident by the wrist and then pushed the resident’s wrists into his stomach, causing the resident to forcefully exhale. As a witness observed, the resident sounded “like someone who got the wind knocked out of them.” The employee then removed the resident’s ball cap from his head and taunted him by waving it in front of his face until the resident’s behavior escalated. The resident was completely dependent upon staff for all his care.
Park River Estates is a for-profit corporation owned by North Cities Health Care, Inc.
In February 2013, Medicare gave the facility an Overall Rating of “below average.” Additionally, the facility was given a “much below average” for its Health Inspection rating.
Compared to the average number of deficiencies for Minnesota nursing homes (6.3), Park River Estates was cited with 17 deficiencies. These include the facility’s:
- Failure to hire only people with no legal history of abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents, or report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents;
- Failure to develop policies that prevent mistreatment, neglect, or abuse of residents or theft of resident property;
- Failure to provide medically-related social services to help each resident achieve the highest possible quality of life;
- Failure to provide necessary care and services to maintain the highest well being of each resident;
- Failure to review or revise the resident’s care plan after any major change in a resident’s physical or mental health; and
- Failure to develop a complete care plan that meets all of a resident’s needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured.
Park River Estates Care Center also received more deficient citations in its previous inspections in 2011 (12 deficiencies, compared to the state average of 7.5 for that period) and 2010 (8 deficiencies, compared to the state average of 6.9). These prior citations include Park River Estates Care Center’s:
- Failure to develop policies that prevent mistreatment, neglect, or abuse of residents or theft of resident property; and
- Failure to 1) hire only people with no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents; or 2) report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents.
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
