PA Veterans Home Out of Control.

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

One resident was punched in the face while a woman was grabbed by the wrist, dragged from her bed and pushed up against a wall. Another resident grabbed a worker around the neck.
Those were just some of the violent incidents detailed in a recent report from the Pennsylvania Health Department on multiple violations of state and federal standards in a state run nursing home for veterans.
The health agency surveyors concluded that the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center was out of compliance with the requirements of the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs and "lacked the resources" to meet the needs of its current residents.
In one incident cited in the report two residents got into an altercation after one of them wandered into the other patient's room. When the resident tried to push the intruder away, the intruder stood up from his wheelchair and punched the other in the face.
The multiple incidents involving severely impaired residents, some diagnosed with dementia, paint a picture of a facility out of control.
A female patient with a history of falls and requiring toileting assistance was left for hours without aid even though she had just suffered another fall a day earlier. She fell trying to reach the bathroom breaking her hip.
The report cites the home for failing to implement interventions to meet the patient's needs.
"The facility failed to provide timely and necessary staff assistance to meet this resident's assessed and identified level of assistance with toileting to prevent a fall with serious injury," the report states.
In a September incident a dementia patient became agitated when a staffer tried to intervene. The patient tried to throw his wheelchair at the worker. The same resident just days later placed his hands around a worker's neck.
Three days after that the same resident grabbed a woman lying in her bed, dragged her by the arm and pushed her up against a wall. The woman was yelling,"Help me," according to the report.
The male resident was finally transferred to another facility in early November.
The report also cites the facility for failing to properly care for an Alzheimer's patient at high risk for bed sores. The patient suffered a deep tissue injury
There was no documented evidence needed treatment was implemented, the report states.
The center was also cited for failure to screen three new employees and failing to provide mandatory in-service training for nurse's aides.
The facility officials filed a plan of correction in which they said protocols for handling dementia patients with behavioral issues were revised. The management also promised to conduct audits to ensure compliance by staffers.
The plan also calls for retraining sessions for staffers and revising the care plans for patients including the woman who fell and broke her hip.
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