The son of a resident recently filed a lawsuit against a Tennessee nursing home after his mother died from COVID-19. The man reported that his 70-year-old mother was in the nursing home recovering from pneumonia and had tested negative for the virus. He said, “She was feeling better and ready to come home, wanting to come back and get back to living, but, because we let her go to the facility, she never came back home.”
According to reports, nearly 85 percent of the residents in the nursing home contracted the virus and 14 people died. It is considered one the largest outbreaks occurring in the eastern part of the state.
Failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) along with a lack of employee training, screening, and monitoring of residents to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus formed the basis of the lawsuit.
The attorney representing the son expressed his and others concerns that the state will pass legislation to prevent lawsuits like this one. He said, “They’re going to try to pass a law that they could not pass in February preventing a lawsuit like this to hold them [nursing homes] accountable for not complying with simple CDC guidelines like wearing a mask.”
Another of the attorneys involved added this statement, “What the Governor was attempting to do is raise that standard to gross negligence, meaning you have to have total disregard, but at the same time he’s allowing professional sports teams to play.”
The nursing home’s executive director issued this statement regarding the lawsuit:
“Residents are our highest priority at [name of facility]. There are currently no individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 working or being cared for in our building. We understand that the virus is still a very real problem for our country, and we remain vigilant to the threat. We are aware of a lawsuit filed against our facility by the family of a former resident. Due to the pending legal action, as well as HIPAA, we cannot provide specific information on the resident or the resident’s time at our facility. While this case is pending, we will continue to focus on providing quality and compassionate care to our patients.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Failure to follow guidelines from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for nursing homes regarding controlling the spread of COVID-19 by not providing sufficient PPE, not educating staff regarding the use of PPE and the importance of following sanitation protocols, e.g., hand hygiene and proper disposal of waste materials, etc., and inadequate separation and cohorting of residents, may place residents and staff in jeopardy, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures regarding CMS and CDC guidelines for nursing homes regarding COVID-19. (See: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/4220-covid-19-long-term-care-facility-guidance.pdf and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/long-term-care.html.
- Train staff on the proper use of PPE, sanitation protocols, and monitoring/separation of residents.
- Periodically audit to ensure that a sufficient supply of PPE is available to staff, that they are wearing it properly, and are observing proper sanitation protocols.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC view: COVID-19 FACILITY PREPAREDNESS SELF-ASSESSMENT.
