Nursing Home

A Winchester woman who has been arguing since March that she was wrongfully fired from a local nursing home will continue to receive unemployment benefits, despite claims of misconduct from her former employer. She recently filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Deshanna Baker has successfully defended two challenges from Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation Center that she provided poor patient care when she worked there as a licensed practical nurse.

Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation of Winchester was one of three Kentucky nursing home facilities recently added to a list of troubled facilities in the United States according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Fountain Circle was added to the Special Focus Facilities list in July after the facility was cited for two federal deficiencies in March, then on July 19, received a Type A citation, the most serious citation given by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General, for a violation of state regulations.

During a meeting of team leaders at Golden Living Center Friday morning, executive director Jennifer Thompson felt compelled to address a matter that had riled up the staff at the Stanford nursing home. “I told them we were not going to let this distract us from our mission,” Thompson said later. The staff at Golden Living Center was unhappy with an advertisement appearing in this week’s Interior Journal by the law firm Wilkes & McHugh listing 17 deficiencies found during inspections of the nursing home.

The Waynesburg Manor nursing home was robbed at knifepoint early Wednesday morning, but no injuries were reported, Kentucky State Police said. According to 911 transcripts, a female employee of the nursing home called the Lincoln County 911 Center at 2:10 a.m. saying that two subjects wearing black ski masks broke into the nursing home, manhandled her, bound her wrists with duct tape, smashed the telephone and took the nursing facility's supply...

Bourbon Heights in Paris was recognized as the 2008 Facility of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities at its annual meeting Nov. 11-13 at the Louisville Galt House. Facility Administrator Angela Forsythe and her staff accepted the award. Mary Haynes, KAHCF chairman of the board recognized the achievements of nursing home, saying, "Bourbon Heights is an excellent facility that has exhibited a strong commitment to quality care for its residents. Our long-term care profession salutes administrator Angela Forsythe and the entire staff for their dedication and professionalism.

Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation will be losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding after receiving a Type A citation from state officials for allegations of abuse and neglect. The nursing home is scheduled to have its funding terminated on Feb. 7, Beth Fisher, a spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Tuesday. Fisher said she could not elaborate on the allegations or the reasons for the citation, the most serious one issued by the state.

STANFORD - A Waynesburg woman is suing Stanford Health and Rehabilitation on behalf of her late brother, Glen Williams, who was a resident of the facility for nearly two years. Lucille Brock, administratrix of her brother's estate, filed the lawsuit May 8 in Lincoln Circuit Court claiming that the nursing home was negligent in its care of Williams. Williams "suffered accelerated deterioration of his health and physical condition beyond that caused by the normal aging process," the suit alleges.

Dear Editor, How many people do you know who have loved ones residing in a long-term care facility (nursing home)? Most of us know several. These people may be our parents, grandparents, spouses, even an adult child who has a physical disability and cannot be taken care of in the private home setting. Many nursing homes provide excellent care with plenty of qualified staff. However, there are those other facilities that may not be so well staffed or have the staff who really care about their residents.

Dear Editor, I have been a nurse for several years and currently work in a nursing home. I love being a nurse, but I also know why there is such a huge nursing shortage. Many are choosing not to go into nursing, while even more are leaving the profession. People are blind to what goes on behind closed doors, and no, I am not speaking abuse and neglect. I am speaking of hard work, blood, sweat and many tears. There are those of us who do our job with pride and try our very best to take excellent care of all patients.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I have to tell you about the love I have seen this past week. I have a question to pose to my readers. When is the last time you have been in a nursing home? If you are like myself, it is something you have not had the urge to do unless you are visiting a loved one who has been placed there. To be honest, that has been my experiences up to this point. I had only visited the nursing homes to go see aunts from both sides of our family.

Maybe you have seen the email that is going around about the wooden bowl. We have received it several times and, every time, it makes me cry, not because it is sad exactly but because it touches me so deeply. Basically, it is the story of a young couple who have a young child. Circumstances present them with a big decision to make. The lady's elderly dad can no longer live alone and does not have the money to live in a nursing home. They decided to bring him into their own home, and were happy to do so. But reality is often different from what we imagine and pretty soon, the old man's presence brought stress and tension into their lives.

“The Scientific American Book of Love, Sex, and the Brain.” By Judith Horstman, c.2012, Jossey Bass, $25.95/$30.95 Canada, 242 pages, includes index.   Your telephone is your new best friend. That's because it's the direct line between your ear and the voice of the one with whom you've fallen in love. Your phone is never far away because keeping it close lets him whisper endearments, share her thoughts, or spill secrets.  Your telephone rings, you smile.

Feb. 2, 1987 Winchester Health Care Manor has received a “superior”¿rating following a Cabinet for Human Resources evaluation in December. The nursing home was evaluated in the three levels of care it is licensed to provide. The passage of a cold front and a return in high pressure influence will cause Kentucky's weather to become more seasonal, according to the National Weather Service. George Rogers Clark High School will be represented in the Sweet Sixteen Academic Showcase, scheduled for March 25-28 in Lexington.

A bread ministry started three years ago at Saint Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville has risen to meet the needs of the surrounding community. The Panera Bread store in Nicholasville donates its extra food to Saint Athanasius each Saturday night, and the church gives it away free every Sunday from 1-2 p.m. at its location at 926 S. Main St. Father Justin Patterson said the ministry began when a parishioner learned of Panera's “Day-End Dough-Nation” program that donates all unsold bread and baked goods to local charities.

A Stanford woman is suing a Danville bus operator and nursing home alleging that their employees caused her to break a leg and suffer other injuries when they dropped her in her wheelchair as they tried to load her on a bus. Brenda Young filed the complaint last week in Boyle Circuit Court. It names Blue Grass Community Action Partnership and Kindred Healthcare as defendants and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.  Kindred operates Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation, where Young was living and receiving medical care, and which contracted with the non-profit Blue Grass Community Action Partnership to provide bus service to its residents.

Diane Grillon, who moved from Hazard to Winchester four years ago, became a Friendly Visitor at Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation Center as a way to make new friends. She says today that she has found much more than that. The Certified Ombudsman and Friendly Visitors state program trains volunteers to go into nursing homes to visit residents and investigate concerns, regularly visit long-term care facilities, monitor conditions and provide a “voice for those unable to speak for themselves,” according to a 2010 Cabinet for Health and Family Services news release.

State inspectors are recommending that Medicare and Medicaid restrictions against Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation in Winchester be lifted. Beth Fisher, public information officer for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in an e-mail that the inspector general determined during a Sept. 29 visit that “the facility was in substantial compliance on Sept. 23, 2011,” the deadline for improvement established after an earlier citation involving poor resident supervision.

A representative from the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency told county commissioners Wednesday that if corrections at Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation are not made by Dec. 31, the facility could lose its certification. “Often times, a facility will close,” said Executive Director Sherry Culp, who appeared at a Clark County Fiscal Court meeting. Commissioners voiced their concerns at a previous meeting and wanted an opportunity to address them. Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner also was present during the discussion.

A Winchester woman who has been arguing since March that she was wrongfully fired from a local nursing home will continue to receive unemployment benefits, despite claims of misconduct from her former employer. She recently filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Deshanna Baker has successfully defended two challenges from Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation Center that she provided poor patient care when she worked there as a licensed practical nurse.