Nursing Home Cited in Two Patient Deaths
Colonial HealthCare, a skilled-nursing home in Auburn, received two of the state's most severe citations and was fined $160,000 after two patients died, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A 92-year-old man died in January, allegedly after developing complications when he was wrongly given diabetes medication. The man did not have diabetes and was not prescribed the medicine, according to state officials.
In the second case, a 64-year-old woman who had chronic obstructive airway disease, hypertension and congestive heart failure died on the same day she was admitted to the facility. The patient's doctor had ordered a ventilation machine for her, but staff did not provide the device.
A spokesperson for the facility's parent company, Horizon West HealthCare, said that allegations have "not been proven and have not been independently substantiated" (Lin, Los Angeles Times, 8/18). The citations will be appealed, a spokesperson said.
If the facility receives one more AA citation this year, it could face suspension or revocation of its license, Department of Health Services spokesperson Lea Brooks said (Griffith, Sacramento Bee, 8/18).