A nursing home in another state was recently investigated after the state’s department of health and welfare received three complaints concerning understaffing, mistreatment, and neglect at the facility. The issues discovered at the facility were reportedly so serious that the facility has stopped taking new Medicare and Medicaid patients. When residents of nursing homes in New Mexico experience nursing home neglect, it is within their rights to take legal action through the civil court system.
In a recent out-of-state case, officials reported that the lives of several patients were at risk due to the facility’s substandard treatment. For instance, patients were allegedly being left in their toilets for lengthy periods of time. In addition, officials claimed that patients could not reach their call lights if they had to summon CNAs.
According to state officials, residents were also shouted at and not given sufficient amounts of food or drink. A major reason for the neglect was allegedly not having enough staff to keep up with the residents. Nursing home officials said they have been working on addressing the problems so that they can be in compliance with both federal and state guidelines.
If a person in New Mexico suffers harm due to nursing home neglect, he or she, or his or her family, may decide to file a liability claim against the reportedly at-fault nursing facility, seeking monetary damages. Likewise, if a person loses his or her life due to being neglected at a nursing home, his or her surviving loved ones may opt to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Claims for damages will be adjudicated once liability is established to the satisfaction of the court hearing the case, based upon a showing of negligence.
Source: ktvb.com, “Report of mistreatment at Nampa nursing home”, Karen Zatkulak, Oct. 4, 2016
