[nfbmi-talk] flint journal on mpas suit

[joe harcz Comcast]

Fenton HealthCare is the subject of a federal lawsuit after they are accused of not turning

 

Gary Ridley | gridley at mlive.com . 

Fenton HealthCare is the subject of a federal lawsuit after they are accused of not turning over documents associated

with the death of a resident. Gary Ridley | MLive.com FENTON, MI -- A Fenton nursing home is being sued over accusations it failed to turn over documents

pertaining to an investigation into the death of one of its residents. The lawsuit against Fenton Healthcare, 512 Beach St., was filed Nov. 4 in Flint

U.S. District Court by Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service -- a state-appointed group assigned to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect against

people with disabilities. The advocacy service claims it learned Aug. 1 of allegations of possible abuse or neglect of several patients at the nursing

home after a June 13 survey conducted by the state's Bureau of Health Care Services, according to the lawsuit. The survey showed that the nursing home

failed to initiate emergency medical services following incidents involving four unnamed residents, all of whom were previously diagnosed with disabilities,

according to the lawsuit. One of the residents died as a result of their incident and the three others were placed at risk of serious harm, the lawsuit

claims. State records allege that staff at Fenton Health Care did not contact emergency responders until 20 minutes after the patient who died was initially

found unresponsive. The records also show that Fenton Health Care was cited following the June survey for numerous deficiencies, including the failure

to complete a plan with the patient prior to their death regarding their desire on whether emergency services, such as CPR, should be administered. Michigan

Protection Advocacy Service claims it twice sent requests to Fenton Healthcare seeking records related to the four affected patients. Both requests were

sent to the nursing home via certified mail and signed for by a staff member at the facility but Fenton Healthcare failed to respond to either request.

Similar accusations against Whitehall Healthcare Center of Novi were included in the lawsuit. Both nursing homes are operated by parent company Consulate

Health Care. Jennifer Trapt, vice president of communications of Consulate Health Care, declined to comment on the allegations saying that her company

was unaware of the lawsuit. Consulate Health Care was not named as a party in the lawsuit. The lawsuit complaint states that Consulate will be added as

a named party to the lawsuit once the Michigan Protection Advocacy Service can prove that Consulate is, in fact, the owner of both nursing homes. "The

failure of these two facilities to provide our organization with the needed documents has interfered with our investigative duties," Mark Cody, Michigan

Protection and Advocacy Service legal director, said in a written statement. "Under federal law, (Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service) acts to protect

and advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities and our ability to do that is being hindered.