The Oak Cliff nursing home where at least 30 people contracted COVID-19 has a long list of health-code and safety violations.
Skyline Nursing Center near Westmoreland and Kiest had 22 violations when the Texas Department of Health and Human Services inspected the 204-bed facility in November 2019.
The violations expose a bleak lifestyle for residents.
According to the inspection report, the facility failed to:
- make sure that each resident’s nutritional needs were met
- store, cook and give out food in a safe and clean way
- make sure that residents who cannot care for themselves receive help with eating/drinking, grooming and hygiene
- provide care in a way that keeps or builds each resident’s dignity and self-respect
- make sure that the resident voluntarily agrees to take a psychoactive drug
- properly hold, secure and manage each resident’s personal money that is deposited with the nursing home
- keep accurate and appropriate records
The report also reveals that the nursing home was understaffed, and workers weren’t properly trained.
The facility failed to:
- hire a full-time qualified social worker
- provide its nursing staff in-service training suitable for their job responsibilities every year
- hire enough skilled workers to carry out dietary service
Other violations included fire-safety negligence and pharmaceutical violations.
Here’s the kicker:
- The facility failed to document an annual review that assesses the facility’s current risk classification according to the current CDC Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Health Care Settings
Infectious diseases can spread quickly through residential care facilities such as nursing homes and so-called “state schools” such as the Denton State Supported Living Center, where 50 residents and 23 employees contracted coronavirus.
Coronavirus has hit eight nursing homes in Dallas. Seventeen people contracted it at Brentwood Place One in Pleasant Grove.
Norma Barrientos, whose mother lives at Skyline, told WFAA that she’s seen the lack of care fist hand.
“The first floor is pretty clean but when you get upstairs and get out the elevator all you smell is feces and urine,” Barrientos told the TV station. “And you see people just running around and it looks like a psych ward. People are just wandering around, fighting with each other.”
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins earlier this week recommended that families consider pulling their loved ones out of nursing homes if they have the ability.
“Maybe last month they would have been better off in the nursing home, but if you can take care of them, they are probably better off in your home,” he said. “When these things get into the nursing homes, they spread, and they spread rapidly, and you get into a situation where virtually everyone there has a very high chance of getting it.”
