Admissions Halted at TN Nursing Homes

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Tennessee health officials have ordered a halt to any new admissions and imposed fines following inspections showing evidence of patient abuse, including slapping patients, withholding liquids along with verbal and mental abuse.
Ordered to halt any new admissions were Diversicare of Claiborne and Brookhaven Manor of Kingsport.
A 33-page report on the Claiborne facility cited repeated abuse of some patients by a licensed practical nurse. A certified nursing assistant was cited for slapping a patient.
At the Kingsport facility, state surveyors found that a patient who had violated smoking rules, was ordered out of the facility and taken to a local hotel with just three nights paid for.
The report charges that Brookhaven "placed a resident in an environment that was detrimental to his health. Although the resident had appealed his discharge, he was discharged without his medications for multiple illnesses.
The home was cited for failing to transfer the unnamed resident "to the most appropriate facility or setting to meet his or her need in terms of quality services and location."
A $12,000 fine was imposed against Brookhavem while a $20,000 fine was set for Diversicare.