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Nursing home explains error

Daily Hampshire Gazette - 6/16/2018

@BeraDunau

NORTHAMPTON — A patient who took an oxygen tank out on a smoke break prompted a severe sanctioning last month of a Leeds nursing home, its administrator said Friday.

Robert Petroff, administrator at Highview of Northampton, said the incident resulted in the nursing home being given an “immediate jeopardy designation,” which has since been rescinded.

“(It) was purely and solely related to the oxygen tank issue,” Petroff said.

The designation was put into place on May 25 following an annual inspection of the facility by the Department of Public Health on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was lifted on May 31.

DPH also froze all admissions to the facility, under state statute. That condition is still in place, according to Petroff.

He said that during the DPH inspection, a patient in a wheelchair went out to take a smoke break during one of the designated times allowed by Highview.

“We have some 20 to 30 residents that smoke at our facility,” Petroff said.

On the back of the patient’s wheelchair was a turned off oxygen tank that was in a bag and not in use.

The immediate jeopardy designation that resulted from the incident means that a facility is in noncompliance with CMS regulations and “has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident,” according to the definition of the designation on CMS’ website.

Petroff said that a plan of correction was submitted to DPH prior to the designation being lifted. He said that the plan involves re-educating residents and staff and putting in monitoring tools to make sure residents don’t have access to smoking materials when they are not supposed to.

“It’s in the rearview mirror,” he said of the designation.

Petroff could not say when Highview will be able to admit patients again, though he said that Highview was “absolutely” a safe place for its current residents.

Athena Health Care Systems, the company that owns Highview, also released a statement about the designation.

“A facility-wide education plan and audit of all residents was implemented to ensure continued compliance with all state and federal regulations,” reads part of the written statement from Tim Brown, director of marketing and communications at Athena. “Athena Health Care Systems and its managed facilities, including Highview of Northampton, always work within state and federal guidelines and towards excellence in patient care, as our primary focus.”

Highview of Northampton, a 120-bed facility, was purchased by Athena in 2014 from Masonic Health System of Charlton. Highview of Northampton was called The Overlook at that time.

Masonic Health System purchased the facility from the Hampshire Council of Governments in 2009 for $4 million. It was then known as Hampshire Care and had been run by the Hampshire Council of Governments for decades.

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