Colorado Nursing Home Sued a Second Time Over Resident’s Alleged Assaults on Other Residents
In October 2018, a jury awarded a former resident of a Colorado nursing home $3.6 million after he was bitten and seriously assaulted by a female resident in the facility’s Alzheimer’s and dementia unit. That lawsuit accused the nursing home of being short staffed. Allegedly, the facility provided only two staff persons to care for 26 – 28 residents in the unit during the day and one staff person at night. The suit also alleged that the nursing home failed to report that assault and another assault on a staff member by the resident to the police.
Now, another similar lawsuit has been filed against that same nursing home accusing it of “putting its financial goals over residents’ safety by under-staffing the facility.” It alleges that the same resident with dementia who was involved in the previously mentioned lawsuit also battered another 92-year-old resident in a wheelchair by hitting her repeatedly in the face as she sat in the hallway. The lawsuit claims that as a result of the assault the resident experiences frequent headaches and suffers from anxiety—something that she did not have prior to the assault.
The plaintiffs are seeking $100,000 in damages against the nursing home and its current corporate owners.
The nursing home has declined to turn over video footage of the assault and has remained unresponsive to inquiries about the assault.
After the first lawsuit verdict, the nursing home changed its name and the lawsuit claims that, “despite actual knowledge that it was understaffed,” the nursing home has continued to aggressively be marketed as, “having higher staffing than its competitors,” and “a better activities program.”
Compliance Perspective
Failure to ensure a sufficient staffing level to adequately monitor residents with behavior issues and prevent repeated violent resident-to-resident assaults may be considered provision of sub-standard quality of care in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding the staffing levels needed to ensure the care and safety of residents, comply with state and federal requirements, and ensure that marketing claims match the care and programming that is being provided to residents.
- Train staff on the need to carefully monitor dementia residents, especially those with a history of violence or who have behavioral issues.
- Periodically audit staff levels posted on the dementia unit to determine if there is adequate staffing being employed and scheduled to meet the care needs on both the day and night shifts.
