It takes a lot for a nursing home to lose certification from Medicare and Medicaid but it looks like a nursing home in Fredericksburg, Virginia has done just that.
On May 1, 2007 a resident of Carriage Hill Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Fredericksburg strangled to death on a nurse call bell cord which had been improperly tied to the resident’s bed. Unbelievably, the nursing home learned nothing from the senseless and preventable tragedy as evidenced by the fact that when a Health Department inspector arrived at the facility one week later the inspector found 20 call bell cords tied to residents’ beds. The facility, owned by MediCorp Health Systems, had been cited 4 times in 5 months for deficiencies by state regulators.
Maybe the loss of the source of payment (Medicaid and Medicare) for 70% of its residents will force the corporate owners to start taking better care of its residents!