By Lisa Chedekel
CT Health Investigation Team
Seven nursing homes have been cited by the state Department of Public Health for lapses in care, including an incident at a facility in Southbury in which a resident choked to death.
The incident, according to information posted at CT Health Investigation Team, at the Lutheran Home of Southbury occurred in April, when a resident who was supposed to be served a “soft diet” of ground meat and liquids was instead served a meal of ham, cooked carrots and a cookie. According to a state inspection report, a nurse’s aide had cut up the ham for the resident to eat, even though a dietary order slip on the resident’s meal tray instructed a soft diet.
After the resident began choking, staff members attempted the Heimlich maneuver, without success. State inspectors said the nursing home lacked an adequate process to alert personnel to a medical emergency—something the nursing home has since corrected, the state report says.
The Lutheran Home was fined $615.
Also fined for poor patient care was Sheriden Woods Health Care Center of Bristol, which was cited for five violations, including one incident in which a resident fell while being moved and suffered a neck fracture. In another incident, a resident was given his or her roommate’s medications in error. The home also was cited in connection with five residents testing positive in May for salmonella infection. The home faces $955 in fines.
The other citations were:
- Bridgeport Manor, of Bridgeport, faces a $650 fine after a resident with a traumatic brain injury hit the side of his or her head on a headboard, sustaining a laceration. The resident had been moved by one nurse’s aide instead of the two staff members who were required as part of the patient’s care plan.
- Regency Heights of Danielson faces a $580 fine after a resident whose feet were not properly secured in his or her wheelchair suffered a hip fracture.
- Candlewood Valley Health & Rehabilitation Center of New Milford was fined $510 for improper care of a resident with mobility problems who fell off a shower chair and suffered a hip fracture.
- Regency Heights of Norwich was fined $510 for failing to properly monitor and treat a resident’s hand wound.
- Pomperaug Woods Health Center of Southbury faces a $510 fine for an incident in which a resident at risk of falling fell off a toilet while unattended and sustained a broken ankle.
