Hot Topic: Nursing Homes for Sex Offenders & Violent Offenders

Nursing home fined more than $1.3 million

4-9-2013 Oklahoma:

ENID, Okla. — An Enid nursing home has been fined more than $1.3 million for not taking appropriate actions when a registered sex offender who was a patient there had inappropriate contact with other residents.

Oklahoma State Department of Health inspectors cited numerous deficiencies on March 8 when they surveyed Kenwood Manor, 502 W. Pine, a nursing home licensed for 45 beds. Three of those deficiencies were deemed “a pattern ... that constitutes immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety.”

Dorya Huser, chief of Long Term Care for the Protective Health Services division of OSDH, said the March inspection was triggered by a complaint regarding the resident’s behavior. Documents from the Department of Health and Human Services show the original complaint to the state Health Department was anonymous.

According to the Enid Police Department’s sex offender web page, Charles “Charley” Herbert Willson’s address at Kenwood Manor was last verified in January.

Kenwood Manor is about two blocks northeast of Emerson Middle School.

Sgt. Dustin Albright, who manages the sex offender program for EPD, said restrictions on how close a sex offender can live to a school do not apply when the offender is in a medical facility such as a nursing home or hospital. The facility can choose to admit, or not, a registered sex offender.

“It’s up to the administration of the nursing home,” Albright said. “Offenders are exempt from the living restrictions if they are living in nursing homes.”

The HHS inspection report for Kenwood Manor shows numerous notations regarding his interactions with both male and female residents.

“The patient has a history of being in Kenwood Manor Nursing Home for quite some time,” page 64 reads. “Patient has been diagnosed with (mental retardation) and reportedly is a registered sex offender with prior felony conviction for lewd molestation. … (He) has been showing increasing sexual inappropriateness. He is reportedly to touch women and men inappropriately. It was reported that he is targeting residents that are either paraplegic or blind. These problems have progressively worsened.”

HHS notified Kenwood Manor on April 1 several sanctions are being imposed:

• Denial of payment for new Medicare and Medicaid admissions.

• A fine of $1.3 million, because residents were placed in jeopardy from Oct. 25, 2012, through March 4.

• A fine of $900 per day from March 5 until additional deficiencies are corrected.

• Termination of all Medicare and Medicaid payments if the nursing home is not in substantial compliance with Medicare and Medicaid regulations by Sept. 8.

Huser said Kenwood Manor on March 4 agreed to provide one-on-one supervision for him, thus ending the situation of other patients being in immediate jeopardy.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” Huser said. “They have a convicted sex offender that’s in the facility, and there has been inappropriate activity with residents. They have to develop policies relative to abuse and neglect and follow those policies. In this case, they had a policy, but they didn’t implement the policy.”

In addition, the surveyor noted a lengthy list of other deficiencies in areas such as privacy, management of patient’s financial affairs, activities that meet the interests and needs of each resident, housekeeping and maintenance issues and the like.

Huser said Kenwood Manor has 10 days to submit a plan of correction. If it doesn’t submit a plan of correction, OSDH will write one.

“If they do not come back into compliance, we will discontinue payment and relocate the residents who are there,” Huser said.

The nursing home has until May 31 to appeal the survey results.

Whether Kenwood officials will do so is unclear. A woman who answered the phone at Kenwood Manor said, “We don’t have an administrator at the present moment.”

Terry Reynolds, Kenwood Manor registered nurse supervisor, said he was authorized to release this statement: “At Kenwood Manor the comfort, care and well-being of our residents is always our first priority, and in accordance with the applicable state and federal law, we do not discuss specific patients and other matters of facility operation in a public forum. Our staff members continue their dedication to provide the best possible care to our residents.”

Asked if Kenwood Manor would submit a plan of correction or appeal the survey results, Reynolds said, “That would be no comment.”

Court documents show Willson, now 69, was ordered in 2004 “to reside in Kenwood Manor or similar facility approved by DOC” as part of his conditions of probation when he pleaded no contest to lewd molestation and was given a suspended sentence of 10 years. Garfield County District Attorney Mike Fields said it was believed at the time Kenwood Manor would provide adequate supervision.

A year ago, Garfield County District Court ruled Willson’s probation officer could stop checking in on him after she filed a special report to the court stating she had regularly checked with nursing home administrators and “they have never reported any significant problems with his behavior.”

Chris Frech, assistant district supervisor for Northwest District Community Corrections, said perhaps Willson’s behavior toward other residents at Kenwood Manor is becoming worse than in the past.

“He may be having some issues that older people have,” Frech said. “With his age, there could be all sorts of things coming on.”

It’s possible Willson or Kenwood Manor could face further penalties because of the matter.

“In the nine years Mr. Willson has been on probation, our office has never been made aware of any allegation he violated the law or his probation,” Fields said. “After I became aware of the Health Department’s report, I referred the matter to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud unit because of their jurisdiction and experience investigating these matters. Once an investigation is completed, my office will review it to determine what, if any, action should be taken.”

Fields said his file on Willson contains a note from Kenwood Manor that efforts are being made to locate a different place for him to live.

Doug Stafford, principal of Emerson Middle School, said he was not aware of Willson residing at the nursing home close by the school.

“Obviously, we supervise students when they get here in the morning, and we supervise them in the afternoon. I’m confident our students are safe,” Stafford said.

Kenwood Manor is owned by Adcare Health Services. According to the company website, Adcare owns seven nursing homes in Oklahoma and many more in Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio, Georgia and South Carolina.

Adcare’s Oklahoma facilities include Enid Senior Care, Kenwood Manor and The Living Center here, as well as two facilities in Grove, one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa, according to its website. ..Source.. by Phyllis Zorn, Staff Writer

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