Complaints filed against SC nursing homes during pandemic warn of ‘immediate danger’
As the coronavirus was spreading across South Carolina this spring, about two dozen nursing homes and care facilities failed to adequately protect residents from the disease, exposing many to dangerous or unsanitary conditions, according to complaints filed with state regulators.
In some cases, staff knew about problems, but tried to cover them up. In other cases, the homes refused to test residents for the virus or provide adequate equipment to protect staff and residents, the complaints claim.
State regulators say they haven’t found evidence of “imminent harm’’ to nursing and care home patients but are looking into the complaints. The allegations are to be investigated as part of upcoming, regular inspections, said Laura Renwick, a spokesperson with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
If found to be true, the complaints, registered since the coronavirus outbreak first was documented in early March, could result in DHEC requirements that nursing homes and care facilities make improvements. In more extreme cases, the homes could be fined.
Nursing home officials reached by The State and The Island Packet said they have worked to provide a safe environment during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some reached by the newspapers were unaware of the complaints, and in some cases, contended the allegations are untrue.
The reports, however, clearly show that nursing home staff members and residents’ loved ones were upset about the level of care at more than two dozen facilities. Their concerns provide new insight about nursing home responses to COVID-19.
Data released by the state health department on May 29 show that nursing home residents make up over a third of the state’s total coronavirus-related deaths, despite representing only 11.8% of people who had tested positive as of May 27. South Carolina has 194 nursing homes.
Last month, The State and The Island Packet reported that more than half of these deaths were concentrated in a small handful of facilities where the virus spread widely. The coronavirus tore through at least 10 nursing homes rapidly, quickly infecting more than half resident populations in those homes, the newspapers found..
Now, state regulators have released information showing that some staff and family members of nursing home residents were worried enough to seek state investigations.
If “they are that concerned about safety and health that they are calling DHEC, it’s a very serious issue,’’ said Teresa Arnold, director of AARP in South Carolina. “It’s something all of us need to pay attention to.’’
Anna Maria Conner, an attorney with Protection & Advocacy for People with Disabilities of South Carolina, said the complaints are important.
“If you don’t get a list of complaints, if nobody files a report, then there’s no sign,” she said. “Everybody just assumes that everything is fine.”
All told, 38 complaints about the coronavirus response, involving more than two dozen facilities, were filed against the nursing homes and care facilities between early March and May 8, records show.
Seven of the facilities drew multiple complaints about how they were dealing with COVID-19. Those included at least one nursing home with a checkered history of health safety violations, according to federal inspection records reviewed by The Island Packet.
The names of those who filed the coronavirus-related complaints were not provided by S.C. regulators. About a dozen complaints appear to have come from staff members working inside the nursing homes.
Among the most chilling was a plea from a staff member at a Pee Dee nursing home..
“We, the staff are scared for ourselves and our residents, but we are scared to stand up because we will lose our job,” according to the complaint.
DHEC released the complaint reports in response to queries from The State and The Island Packet.
“Complaints like that are very serious,’’ said DHEC board member Rick Lee of York County. “People in a care facility are extremely vulnerable. You have to rely on the care and good will of the people who work there.’’
Lee stressed, however, that the allegations must be proven.
‘Immediate danger’
None of the complaints to DHEC raise a bigger question than one involving the Sandpiper Rehab and Nursing center in Mount Pleasant.
The April 25 complaint, apparently written by a staff member, said residents were in danger because other staffers were not following rules intended to protect people in their care.
“The residents in this facility are in immediate danger as staff are not following isolation precautions as directed for COVID 19,’’ the complaint reads, noting that the facility should be shut down.
“Based on what I saw for my two shifts, the patients in inpatient rehab would most likely be safer at home with family members.’’
The complaint said DHEC should investigate whether records were falsified at the facility, although details were not provided in the complaint. Sandpiper has recorded two coronavirus cases in residents, according to DHEC’s May 29 data release.
Darrell Biddix, director of clinical services and compliance for Sandpiper’s operating company, said he had not seen the complaint, but suspects it sparked an April 30 visit by DHEC inspectors to Sandpiper. Those inspectors did not find any deficiencies at the 176-bed nursing home, according to a May 5 DHEC report provided by Biddix, an executive with Premier Senior Living.
“That just confirms our belief that it was a disgruntled employee,’’ Biddix said after The State read the complaint to him. “We did have a full on ... investigation from them and we received zero deficiencies for COVID-19. There were no deficiencies noted at all in the survey. So it was an unsubstantiated complaint.’’
DHEC did not provide a comment about the Sandpiper complaint.
Biddix said the nursing home has taken extra precautions to protect residents since the coronavirus outbreak began, including isolating residents who return to the facility after a medical visit. They are kept in isolation until results of a coronavirus test come back negative, he said.
The Morrell Nursing Center, a 154-bed facility in Hartsville, had at least five unexpected deaths in five weeks and otherwise healthy residents began to feel sick, two separate complaints claim. DHEC data as of May 28 showed no confirmed COVID-19 deaths in residents at Morrell.
But the home was not conducting testing because it did not want state regulators investigating, according to one of the complaints filed April 18. The facility took part in state health officials’ efforts to test all nursing home residents and staff in late May, according to DHEC records.
“If we, the staff, ask questions, we are told not to discuss,’’ the April 18 complaint to DHEC says. “Please check into these deaths and what is going on in this facility.’’
The complaint went on to say that staff members were scared for themselves and residents, but feared they would lose their jobs if they spoke out.
Stacy Boatwright, Morrell’s executive director, said in an email that nursing home officials were unaware of the complaints reviewed by the newspapers.
The newspaper provided the complaints to Boatwright, but she did not provide additional comment before publication.
Complaints allege under-staffing, sanitary issues
One Upstate nursing home drew multiple complaints that included allegations staff members were stretched to the limit caring for residents with COVID-19.
At the Greer Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, two employees were tasked with caring for 55 residents with the virus over a period of several weeks, one complaint claims.
“We are not offered any help or support in this matter,” read the complaint, filed by a staff member on May 7.
According to the complaint, when the employee raised concerns, another person, whose name and title were not provided by DHEC, said, “... deal with it, [I’m] going to bed.”
The Greer facility was also not telling families that some residents had COVID-19, alleges a separate complaint to DHEC on April 2.
The facility ranks among the nursing homes with the largest coronavirus outbreaks, with 65 residents and 32 staff members testing positive since the pandemic began, according to DHEC data as of May 28.
A Greer administrator said the nursing home’s parent company was examining the complaints but declined to provide a comment.
Another foothills facility, Magnolia Manor Inman, drew three separate complaints from March 24 to April 18.
The March 24 complaint said the home’s about 170 residents were in danger from Magnolia’s unsuccessful efforts to deal with COVID-19. The complaint indicates Magnolia was trying to address the coronavirus crisis, but it said the Spartanburg County nursing home’s use of one lobby area to bring in food and to carry out soiled laundry and trash was a serious concern.
The complaint appeared to come from a staff member at Magnolia, who wrote, “I am greatly concerned that food deliveries are next to soiled linens at any given time, and that additional staff, from outside the dietary department, in particular, is called upon to roll food deliveries through the building.
“Despite COVID-19 concerns, this is obviously poor judgment and is placing more than 170 residents at great personal risk.’’
An April 18 report against Magnolia Manor Inman said clients were crying and upset after Magnolia abruptly moved them from their rooms into a common area, with no bathroom or private areas to change.
Some residents who are unsteady on their feet were forced to push other residents in wheelchairs, the complaint read.
The complaint said the air did not circulate well and “clients are in an unsafe environment with no staff.’’
Reached last week, Magnolia Manor administrator Dave Pearson said he could not comment on the complaint. He said the home’s nursing director had contracted the coronavirus.
DHEC records current as of May 28 show that 51 residents of Magnolia Manor have tested positive for the virus and three have died, but there are indications that could increase. Pearson said two rounds of mass testing were conducted between May 11 and May 22.
“While more testing could mean more positive cases, we know that ultimately it will improve our ability to protect our residents and limit the spread of this virus, which is our top priority,’’ he said in an email. “And we will, of course, continue to notify DHEC of each new confirmed case as well as notify the residents and their families if they test positive for COVID-19. ‘’
His May 13 letter said the home is conducting regular deep cleanings and educating staff members, while providing personal protective equipment as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Only “essential personnel’’ are allowed inside the building, according to his letter.
Repeat offenders
Some of the complaints made after the coronavirus outbreak began were against nursing homes with extensive histories of health and safety violations.
Those included the Lowcountry’s Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Care Center in Hanahan and the PruittHealth-Blythewood facility in Columbia. Each facility holds a one-star, “much below average” quality rating, according to a federal database.
Both nursing homes saw COVID-19 outbreaks spread to over half of their estimated residents, The State and the Island Packet reported last month. Each has been fined in excess of $100,000 in recent years by federal regulators after inspections revealed issues that threatened residents’ health and safety.
According to a complaint filed May 7, the PruittHealth facility was allowing residents to visit with each other inside the facility. The complaint appears to have been filed by a relative of a resident. The person had difficulties contacting staff members, the complaint said.
In a statement, a PruittHealth spokesperson said the company has an “emergency operations center” open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to address family questions, and, as of Wednesday, the complaint has not resulted in a citation.
A complaint against Heartland said a resident was being abused and the agency was not re-testing employees for the coronavirus.
Another complaint referenced a police report filed in early May and provided to regulators.
The State and The Island Packet obtained the report, which the Hanahan Police Department redacted heavily, citing the confidentiality of “medical records.” The remaining text of the report detailed concerns the daughter of a resident had about her mother “not being fed by the staff,” it read.
A spokesperson for Heartland’s Ohio-based parent company said in an email the first complaint was self-reported by the facility and addressed with DHEC. The spokesperson said the nursing home follows guidelines from the CDC on testing employees and allowing them to return to work after illness.
“I do not think the police found any issues with the claim,” the spokesperson wrote of the police report, adding the nursing home would contact law enforcement to gather more information.
The report was marked “closed,” and a spokesperson for the Hanahan Police Department did not return a voicemail left Friday afternoon.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
