Written by Ben Cox and Amanda Coers – An article published by the Fort Worth StarTelegram shares details of a lawsuit filed after alleged neglect of a local nursing home resident may have resulted in the patient’s death. 

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According to the article, Vicky Brown was a resident of the Cross Country Healthcare Center located at 1514 Indian Creek in Brownwood. Brown was admitted to the facility due to a decline in cognitive and mental health issues, according to her family, but was still physically active and mobile. In January 2017, Brown became ill with the flu. Her condition deteriorated rapidly and after six days she was discovered unresponsive and transported to Brownwood Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Brown never recovered. She passed away three months after being admitted to the hospital. 

An investigation conducted by the Department of Aging reported Brown’s Primary Care Physician stated the patient was emaciated and dehydrated when she was admitted to the hospital. The physician also stated the nursing home failed to notify him of the worsening of the woman’s bed sores. Other details from the investigation reveal the severity of her wounds, at least one of which was considered Stage IV, deep enough to reveal bone. 

Brown’s daughter has filed a lawsuit to keep such a tragedy from happening to another family.  

Cross Country Healthcare Center, operated by Senior Living LLC which operates 31 assisted living centers in Texas, has an overall rating of “Much Below Average,” according to medicare.gov.

The official U.S. Government site for Medicare lists the facility as having the lowest possible rating in six out of six areas: General Information, Health Inspections, Fire safety Inspections, Staffing, Quality of Resident Care, and Penalties.

On the site’s Quality of Resident Care at Cross Country Healthcare Center, percentages of residents needing emergency department visits, residents reporting severe pain, residents receiving antipsychotic medication, residents being restrained, and residents losing too much weight were reportedly higher than state and national averages. The percentage of residents with worsening bed sores were listed as higher than national averages.

Also according to the rating system on medicare.gov, residents at Cross Country Healthcare facility had lower percentages of receiving needed flu and pneumonia vaccines than state and national averages.

The Texas Health and Human Services website lists 12 violations in May 2017 for Cross Country Healthcare Center, including “The facility did not make sure that staff members wash their hands when needed,” and “The facility did not give proper treatment to residents with feeding tubes to prevent problems (such as aspiration pneumonia, diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, metabolic abnormalities, nasal-pharyngeal ulcers) and help restore eating skills, if possible. abnormalities, nasal-pharyngeal ulcers) and help restore eating skills, if possible.” These violations are listed as corrected in June of 2017. 

READ MORE:

2017 Medicare inspection report

2018 Medicare inspection report

Call 800-458-9858 to report suspected abuse or neglect of people who are older or who have disabilities. You can call this number to report abuse that occurs in:

• Nursing homes
• Assisted living facilities
• Day activity and health services

You can also report care concerns about home health and hospice agencies and intermediate care facilities.

Agents answer calls Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. If you call outside those hours, leave a message; an employee will call you back by the next workday.

Photo at top published by Google maps. 

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