DARLINGTON - Lafayette County's troubled nursing home is on its way to recovery after a rough summer that included investigations for health violations, thousands of dollars in fines, the suspension of its administrator and getting placed on a federal watch list for having "a history of serious quality issues."
This week, Lafayette Manor was "deemed to be back in compliance" with state health and quality regulations, according to Claire Smith, communications specialist with the Department of Health Services.
Three state surveyors stopped by the nursing home unannounced on Wednesday, Oct. 24, said Manor administrator Sherry Kudronowicz. The surveyors found that previous violations had been corrected and deemed the facility back in compliance, retroactive to Monday, Oct. 22.
Most significantly, the Manor can once again admit new Medicare and Medicaid patients. Until this week, the state had barred the facility from accepting Medicare and Medicaid payments from new admissions.
Kudronowicz said news this week of the Manor's compliance came as a "huge, huge relief."
"The Manor has a tremendously dedicated, loyal staff," she added, and getting the facility back in compliance was a whole-staff effort. "They are really to be commended."
The Manor will remain on the federal watch list until the facility can claim two consecutive surveys without major issues.
Meanwhile, at its monthly meeting earlier this week, the county committee that oversees the Manor made what chairman David Halloran described as "drastic changes" in the facility's organizational structure.
County supervisors voted to combine the administrator positions at the Manor and Memorial Hospital. One administrator will now oversee both facilities.
Kudronowicz has already been serving in this capacity since Sept. 1, the day after the nursing home committee suspended Manor administrator Catherine Krentz and put her on paid leave.
Kudronowicz, administrator of Memorial Hospital, was asked to step in temporarily to fill the position.
She is now considered permanent in the position at this point, said Halloran.
Krentz remains on paid leave until the end of the year, he said. He declined to elaborate on the specifics her suspension.
Reports from state investigations this summer reveal an atmosphere fraught with communication breakdowns - between staff, between the Manor and Memorial Hospital and between family members and the Manor. In repeated instances, surveyors found that staff did not reliably document or address family members' concerns, update physicians on medical developments or schedule appointments in a timely manner.
In the latest of these reports, filed Sept. 4, there is also indication that Krentz (identified in the report as "Nursing Home Administrator A") mishandled a dispute with a resident's family in late July.
Family members carried the wheelchair-bound resident down a back stairwell, snuck him out an alarmed door and transferred him to a nursing home in Monroe.
This angered Krentz. She is quoted as saying, "I'll be damned if he ever leaves my facility." Communication was evidently so frayed between Krentz and the resident's family that she called police.
The responding officer wrote in his report, "I asked (Krentz) whether she contacted family to ask them about the situation and learned she had not. I asked whether (Krentz) had called the nursing home in Monroe and learned she had not."
After calling the family to verify the resident was OK, the officer told Krentz that he "failed to see where this matter required any police intervention."
In September, shortly after she took over, Kudronowicz said talking with families and with residents to address concerns was one of her first steps toward addressing violations.
"Almost exclusively I'm getting really positive feedback. This is a really good, caring staff that really does care about the residents," she said.
Another of her goals in improving the Manor is to streamline documentation. Currently the Manor's records are not computerized, unlike at bigger facilities with more resources. This is not unusual for a nursing home in a rural, financially strapped county, according to Kudronowicz.
Still, there are other ways to remedy the situation short of installing expensive software.
"I believe we need some changes in our systems. There are too many steps, too many documents," Kudronowicz said. Already in response to the state violations, "our documentation has gotten so much better."
She described her role in fixing the Manor as taking "loose threads and weaving them into a plan."
She is getting advice on helping the Manor and hospital go through this transition from Julie Chikowski, an accredited nursing home administrator with a history at the facility that goes back several years.
It isn't the first time the women have worked together or at the Manor. Between 2006 and 2008, they combined forces to save the Manor from hemorrhaging more than $1 million a year, Kudronowicz said. Now, Chikowski is coming by the Manor two to three times a month to assist in improving the Manor's "overall management picture."
The nursing home committee approved an indefinite consultant contract for Chikowski at this week's meeting.
This week, Lafayette Manor was "deemed to be back in compliance" with state health and quality regulations, according to Claire Smith, communications specialist with the Department of Health Services.
Three state surveyors stopped by the nursing home unannounced on Wednesday, Oct. 24, said Manor administrator Sherry Kudronowicz. The surveyors found that previous violations had been corrected and deemed the facility back in compliance, retroactive to Monday, Oct. 22.
Most significantly, the Manor can once again admit new Medicare and Medicaid patients. Until this week, the state had barred the facility from accepting Medicare and Medicaid payments from new admissions.
Kudronowicz said news this week of the Manor's compliance came as a "huge, huge relief."
"The Manor has a tremendously dedicated, loyal staff," she added, and getting the facility back in compliance was a whole-staff effort. "They are really to be commended."
The Manor will remain on the federal watch list until the facility can claim two consecutive surveys without major issues.
Meanwhile, at its monthly meeting earlier this week, the county committee that oversees the Manor made what chairman David Halloran described as "drastic changes" in the facility's organizational structure.
County supervisors voted to combine the administrator positions at the Manor and Memorial Hospital. One administrator will now oversee both facilities.
Kudronowicz has already been serving in this capacity since Sept. 1, the day after the nursing home committee suspended Manor administrator Catherine Krentz and put her on paid leave.
Kudronowicz, administrator of Memorial Hospital, was asked to step in temporarily to fill the position.
She is now considered permanent in the position at this point, said Halloran.
Krentz remains on paid leave until the end of the year, he said. He declined to elaborate on the specifics her suspension.
Reports from state investigations this summer reveal an atmosphere fraught with communication breakdowns - between staff, between the Manor and Memorial Hospital and between family members and the Manor. In repeated instances, surveyors found that staff did not reliably document or address family members' concerns, update physicians on medical developments or schedule appointments in a timely manner.
In the latest of these reports, filed Sept. 4, there is also indication that Krentz (identified in the report as "Nursing Home Administrator A") mishandled a dispute with a resident's family in late July.
Family members carried the wheelchair-bound resident down a back stairwell, snuck him out an alarmed door and transferred him to a nursing home in Monroe.
This angered Krentz. She is quoted as saying, "I'll be damned if he ever leaves my facility." Communication was evidently so frayed between Krentz and the resident's family that she called police.
The responding officer wrote in his report, "I asked (Krentz) whether she contacted family to ask them about the situation and learned she had not. I asked whether (Krentz) had called the nursing home in Monroe and learned she had not."
After calling the family to verify the resident was OK, the officer told Krentz that he "failed to see where this matter required any police intervention."
In September, shortly after she took over, Kudronowicz said talking with families and with residents to address concerns was one of her first steps toward addressing violations.
"Almost exclusively I'm getting really positive feedback. This is a really good, caring staff that really does care about the residents," she said.
Another of her goals in improving the Manor is to streamline documentation. Currently the Manor's records are not computerized, unlike at bigger facilities with more resources. This is not unusual for a nursing home in a rural, financially strapped county, according to Kudronowicz.
Still, there are other ways to remedy the situation short of installing expensive software.
"I believe we need some changes in our systems. There are too many steps, too many documents," Kudronowicz said. Already in response to the state violations, "our documentation has gotten so much better."
She described her role in fixing the Manor as taking "loose threads and weaving them into a plan."
She is getting advice on helping the Manor and hospital go through this transition from Julie Chikowski, an accredited nursing home administrator with a history at the facility that goes back several years.
It isn't the first time the women have worked together or at the Manor. Between 2006 and 2008, they combined forces to save the Manor from hemorrhaging more than $1 million a year, Kudronowicz said. Now, Chikowski is coming by the Manor two to three times a month to assist in improving the Manor's "overall management picture."
The nursing home committee approved an indefinite consultant contract for Chikowski at this week's meeting.