Late last month Thomasville police discovered the bodies of two elderly people, but what makes this story so tragic is that the victims were not found in an alleyway or on a park bench. Instead, they were lying dead inside of a state-licensed nursing home.
The saga began when some family members repeatedly called Pine Ridge Health & Rehabilitation Center to check on their loved ones, but couldn’t get any staff to answer the phone. Police were then called in to conduct a welfare check, assisted by personnel from the fire department and county EMS. In addition to finding two deceased residents, the team also rescued two patients who were in need of critical emergency care and transported them to area hospitals.
The question is, how could this level of neglect have happened? When Thomasville police arrived, they found the answer. There were 98 patients residing at Pine Ridge, and only three people to care for them. Those included one Licensed Practical Nurse and two nursing assistants.
Pine Ridge is owned by Kinston-based Principle LTC, which, according to their website, operates 56 centers in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. In other words, it’s a big company that should know how to staff and operate a skilled nursing facility, even in the face of a snowstorm and a pandemic, both of which Principle LTC blamed for the “disruptions to our staffing,” including 13 Pine Ridge employees out sick with COVID. But it should also be noted that Pine Ridge has had its share of problems even before the pandemic. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Pine Ridge has a one-star overall health inspections rating, and there have been numerous complaints lodged against that facility, including 12 in the past three years alone, resulting in fines of over $120,000.
As of this writing, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the deaths of the two Pine Ridge residents is the result of inadequate staffing, but the fact remains that it took a police welfare check to discover two other patients who were in need of emergency care, something Pine Ridge and its parent company must still answer for. And while Governor Cooper seems outraged at what happened last month, both he and the General Assembly don’t exactly have clean hands either. That’s because the state should have exercised more control over nursing facilities in the first place. Sure, DHHS can strip Pine Ridge of its license, but that doesn’t solve the long-term problem affecting hundreds of assisted living and skilled nursing communities throughout North Carolina. That problem is staffing, and DHHS knows it. In fact, here’s their official response to a question about the Pine Ridge incident:
“Neither federal nor state law prescribe a minimum staffing ratio for nursing homes.” Nursing homes are only required to “have sufficient staff with the appropriate competencies and skills sets to provide nursing and related services to assure resident safety and well-being.”
Are you kidding me? North Carolina requires no minimum staffing ratio for nursing facilities that care for elderly people, some of whom pay as much as $8,000 per month for that care? It’s unconscionable, and our state legislators must address this problem immediately. I’m not very good in math, but even I know that three people cannot adequately monitor and care for 98 patients. What happened at Pine Ridge is a tragedy. Unfortunately, it’s probably not a crime.
February 1, 2022 @ 7:41 pm
Nursing Home Reforms Needed
Late last month Thomasville police discovered the bodies of two elderly people, but what makes this story so tragic is that the victims were not found in an alleyway or on a park bench. Instead, they were lying dead inside of a state-licensed nursing home.
The saga began when some family members repeatedly called Pine Ridge Health & Rehabilitation Center to check on their loved ones, but couldn’t get any staff to answer the phone. Police were then called in to conduct a welfare check, assisted by personnel from the fire department and county EMS. In addition to finding two deceased residents, the team also rescued two patients who were in need of critical emergency care and transported them to area hospitals.
The question is, how could this level of neglect have happened? When Thomasville police arrived, they found the answer. There were 98 patients residing at Pine Ridge, and only three people to care for them. Those included one Licensed Practical Nurse and two nursing assistants.
Pine Ridge is owned by Kinston-based Principle LTC, which, according to their website, operates 56 centers in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. In other words, it’s a big company that should know how to staff and operate a skilled nursing facility, even in the face of a snowstorm and a pandemic, both of which Principle LTC blamed for the “disruptions to our staffing,” including 13 Pine Ridge employees out sick with COVID. But it should also be noted that Pine Ridge has had its share of problems even before the pandemic. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Pine Ridge has a one-star overall health inspections rating, and there have been numerous complaints lodged against that facility, including 12 in the past three years alone, resulting in fines of over $120,000.
As of this writing, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the deaths of the two Pine Ridge residents is the result of inadequate staffing, but the fact remains that it took a police welfare check to discover two other patients who were in need of emergency care, something Pine Ridge and its parent company must still answer for. And while Governor Cooper seems outraged at what happened last month, both he and the General Assembly don’t exactly have clean hands either. That’s because the state should have exercised more control over nursing facilities in the first place. Sure, DHHS can strip Pine Ridge of its license, but that doesn’t solve the long-term problem affecting hundreds of assisted living and skilled nursing communities throughout North Carolina. That problem is staffing, and DHHS knows it. In fact, here’s their official response to a question about the Pine Ridge incident:
Are you kidding me? North Carolina requires no minimum staffing ratio for nursing facilities that care for elderly people, some of whom pay as much as $8,000 per month for that care? It’s unconscionable, and our state legislators must address this problem immediately. I’m not very good in math, but even I know that three people cannot adequately monitor and care for 98 patients. What happened at Pine Ridge is a tragedy. Unfortunately, it’s probably not a crime.