Britthaven back in compliance with state regulations

By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

Tue, May 13 2008

— A little over two months after being hit with a Type A citation for negligence resulting in injury to a client, Britthaven of Somerset is back in compliance with safety regulations.
The Bourne Avenue nursing home facility housing nearly 140 patients has passed a follow-up inspection by the state’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) designed to make sure the deficiencies found there have all been corrected, according to Janis Stewart of the State’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
In a case similar to that faced by the Oakwood mental health facility here in Somerset, Britthaven stood to potentially lose federal funding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services because of the problems, but the return to guideline compliance should ensure that isn’t going to happen.
The OIG team visited Britthaven Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The visit was expected after Britthaven developed a plan of corrections to address problems found there during a previous inspection.
On Jan. 12, the facility was hit with a Type A citation — the most severe penalty of its kind available from the state authorities — for endangering a patient by failing to maintain a seating device used to get in and out of the shower. The female patient fell out of the chair after the wheels on it locked up, causing her to injure her head and shoulder.
Among the deficiencies corrected, according to acting Britthaven of Somerset administrator Jim Kennedy, was maintenance protocol for shower chairs and other equipment.
“We have a completely new program in place that (the inspectors) were very favorable of,” said Kennedy.
Any time a problem is suspected with a piece of equipment, staff members can put a red tag on the item which takes it out of service and alerts maintenance personnel of the need for repair.
“We’ve used it in other places,” said Kennedy, a regional director for Britthaven homes who assumed control of the local facility in January. “It’s been very successful. It allows the staff to take equipment off the floor and replace it with a spare piece of equipment or get it fixed immediately.”
According to Kennedy, the new ways are working — the number of resident falls and other problem incidents have been greatly reduced from a year ago, he reported.
“We do have a quality assurance program that does weekly reviews of instances,” he said. “We’ve seen a tremendous improvement in the last two months especially.”
Kennedy observed that the team’s reviewing of the overall staff was “excellent.”
“They were very favorable of patient care in general,” he said. “One lady who was here was the team leader on the original survey. She was very complimentary of the staff and the improvements.”
Britthaven is now “totally in compliance,” said Kennedy, and inspections will be updated on an annual basis.
And the patient involved in the initial injury incident? “She’s doing fine,” said Kennedy. “She’s a very happy lady.”