Trends in Long-Term Care - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

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Food was not covered or <strong>in</strong>adequately covered, with trays that
were be<strong>in</strong>g set up for lunch.
The <strong>in</strong>terior of the refrigerator was splattered with an accumulation
ui. food.
I am just go<strong>in</strong>g down and pick<strong>in</strong>g out these th<strong>in</strong>gs. I am not go<strong>in</strong>g
one after the other. It would take forever.
Food from the kitchen was cold when it reached the patient.
Patients hav<strong>in</strong>g orders for low-salt diets, salt-free diets and regular
diets are be<strong>in</strong>g served the same food.
There was old hardened feces on a toilet stall wall, around the base
of the commode and under the commode seat. Feces was smeared on
walls <strong>in</strong> several other areas of the home.
Lumps of feces were on the baseboard ledge <strong>in</strong> a patient's room.
Dried, hard, crusty, dirt l<strong>in</strong>ed two bathtubs.
A strong odor of ur<strong>in</strong>e and feces was present <strong>in</strong> several areas of
the home.
Several chairs and wheelchairs were food sta<strong>in</strong>ed and encrusted
with dirt, and God knows what else.
Unbagged soiled l<strong>in</strong>en filled the soiled l<strong>in</strong>en room and spilled over
<strong>in</strong>to the corridor. The room was foul smell<strong>in</strong>g, and flies were swarm<strong>in</strong>g.
Barrels filled with powder, which appeared to be soap, was dirt
speckled, clumped together from dampness, and was unlabeled.
Patients' personal cloth<strong>in</strong>g is sent to the floor unironed.
There are two more pages of violations, but they do not deal directly
with patient care. They deal with ma<strong>in</strong>tenance of the facility and
several other th<strong>in</strong>gs, and these are the th<strong>in</strong>gs we found.
These are not uncommon th<strong>in</strong>gs.
Senator Moss. I want to ask you this, this is a particularly bad
one, but were there others like this?
Ms. JARVIs. Yes. Perhaps they would not have received a letter
of this magnitude. This is just one letter. Perhaps they would not
have received a letter that long, but we have found these th<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong>
other homes.
It is on a smaller scale, but the same th<strong>in</strong>g.
Senator Moss. This was done dur<strong>in</strong>g the time you were mak<strong>in</strong>g
your <strong>in</strong>spections for the New York City Department of Health?
Ms. JARVIS. The New York City Department of Health.
I went over to the Federal programs evaluat<strong>in</strong>g nurs<strong>in</strong>g homes for
participation <strong>in</strong> the Federal medicare program, but this was done
while I was do<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>spections for the New York City Department of
Health.
Senator Moss. When you made a report like that, what became of
it, what happened?
Ms. JARvIS. What becomes of the report, or what becomes of the
whole survey?
Senator Moss. Well, what becomes of the report, and then if anyth<strong>in</strong>g
follows from it go<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>.
MS. JARVIS. Well, we would get back to the office, and we would
write up the report <strong>in</strong> detail.
We will go back <strong>in</strong>to the facility <strong>in</strong> about 3 weeks to see just
how much of this has been cleared up.
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