Illinois readers may not be aware that in Dec. 2012, a company called Synergy Health Centers began purchasing health care facilities in an east coast state. Since that time, the facilities the company purchased have reportedly continued to experience nursing errors, negligence and other issues. Most recently, two instances of medication errors and the fall of a 96-year-old resident were investigated at one of the facilities.
According to an employee who is no longer working at one of the facilities in question, two patients were given the wrong intravenous medication. It is not known whether this error attributed to the deaths of the two patients. The facility supposedly conducted an investigation into the allegations and only asserted that it was not responsible for the deaths of the two residents.
The facility where the incidents occurred is said to be one of the worst in Massachusetts, and the state’s Department of Public Health is conducting its own investigation into the medication error, along with the elderly resident’s fall. She was left alone in a bathroom and ended up breaking her leg. The company’s facilities appear to be short-staffed when compared to other facilities, but it claims it is staffed in conformance with current law. Sources, however, say that more residents are falling and suffering from bed sores.
Sadly, instances of nursing errors or negligence can arise at similar facilities here in Illinois. Residents, or the family of a resident who has died, retain the right to file a civil action, seeking restitution for any damages incurred. If a civil court rules that negligence led to an injury or death, a monetary judgment could help defray any financial losses.
Source: The Boston Globe, “Sunderland Synergy Health Centers home under state investigation“, Kay Lazar, Aug. 14, 2015