Nursing Home Violated resident's Rights
A California appeals court rules that a nursing home violated transfer and discharge requirements when it discharged an allegedly aggressive resident without prior notice and without providing notice of bed hold policies. Kindred Nursing Centers West v. Cal. Health and Human Services Agency (Cal. Ct. App., 4th, Div. 1, No. D044215, June 22, 2005). unpublished opinion
On January 8, 2004, at 1:40 a.m., Kindred Nursing Centers West, LLC, dba Village Square Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, transferred Morteza Kashaninia to a hospital emergency room, claiming the immediate cause of the transfer was Mr. Kashaninia's recent attempt to wrap his call button cord around a caregiver's neck. That same day, Village Square sent a letter to Mr. Kashaninia's son notifying him that his father was being discharged from the nursing home. Mr. Kashaninia was not issued a bed hold notice. The hospital twice attempted to discharge Mr. Kashaninia back to the nursing home, unsuccessfully. On January 12, 2004, Mr. Kashaninia's family contested Village Square's decision to deny him readmission.
A hearing officer found Village Square had failed to comply with state and federal transfer and discharge requirements and ordered his immediate readmission. Village Square refused, arguing that Mr. Kashaninia continued to pose a danger to residents and staff, and sought an immediate stay, alleging that the administrative process had not provided due process because it had received less than 24 hours’ notice of the hearing. Mr. Kashaninia subsequently dropped his effort to enforce the readmission order, but Village Square continued its appeal. The trial court denied the writ and Village Square appealed again.
In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeal affirms, finding that Village Square failed to grant Mr. Kashaninia statutory and regulatory rights owed to transferees, including adequate notice and issuing him a bed hold notice upon transfer. Although the notice period may be shortened by a facility's inability to care for a resident or when the safety of other residents is endangered, the court rules, "there is no provision for contemporaneous notice." The court also finds that Village Square failed to provide sufficient preparation and orientation to ensure Mr. Kashaninia's safe and orderly discharge from the facility. It rules that Village Square's claim about the danger Mr. Kashaninia posed to others was insufficient justification for failing to offer him a bed hold. The facility, the court notes, had “failed to account for the possibility that [the resident’s] hospital treatment was effective and he might have returned to the facility with no further unmanageable problems.” The court goes on to rule that given the time-sensitive nature of Mr. Kashaninia’s situation, Village Square's due process rights were not violated by the short notice of the hearing.
An amicus brief in support of Mr. Kashaninia was filed by AARP and the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, which was represented by the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC).
The full text of this decision in PDF format may be downloaded from the NSCLC's Web site. Go to: http://www.nsclc.org/news/05/06/Kindred_opinion.pdf.
On January 8, 2004, at 1:40 a.m., Kindred Nursing Centers West, LLC, dba Village Square Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, transferred Morteza Kashaninia to a hospital emergency room, claiming the immediate cause of the transfer was Mr. Kashaninia's recent attempt to wrap his call button cord around a caregiver's neck. That same day, Village Square sent a letter to Mr. Kashaninia's son notifying him that his father was being discharged from the nursing home. Mr. Kashaninia was not issued a bed hold notice. The hospital twice attempted to discharge Mr. Kashaninia back to the nursing home, unsuccessfully. On January 12, 2004, Mr. Kashaninia's family contested Village Square's decision to deny him readmission.
A hearing officer found Village Square had failed to comply with state and federal transfer and discharge requirements and ordered his immediate readmission. Village Square refused, arguing that Mr. Kashaninia continued to pose a danger to residents and staff, and sought an immediate stay, alleging that the administrative process had not provided due process because it had received less than 24 hours’ notice of the hearing. Mr. Kashaninia subsequently dropped his effort to enforce the readmission order, but Village Square continued its appeal. The trial court denied the writ and Village Square appealed again.
In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeal affirms, finding that Village Square failed to grant Mr. Kashaninia statutory and regulatory rights owed to transferees, including adequate notice and issuing him a bed hold notice upon transfer. Although the notice period may be shortened by a facility's inability to care for a resident or when the safety of other residents is endangered, the court rules, "there is no provision for contemporaneous notice." The court also finds that Village Square failed to provide sufficient preparation and orientation to ensure Mr. Kashaninia's safe and orderly discharge from the facility. It rules that Village Square's claim about the danger Mr. Kashaninia posed to others was insufficient justification for failing to offer him a bed hold. The facility, the court notes, had “failed to account for the possibility that [the resident’s] hospital treatment was effective and he might have returned to the facility with no further unmanageable problems.” The court goes on to rule that given the time-sensitive nature of Mr. Kashaninia’s situation, Village Square's due process rights were not violated by the short notice of the hearing.
An amicus brief in support of Mr. Kashaninia was filed by AARP and the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, which was represented by the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC).
The full text of this decision in PDF format may be downloaded from the NSCLC's Web site. Go to: http://www.nsclc.org/news/05/06/Kindred_opinion.pdf.
