Senath South Health Care Center

ProPublica, an independent nonprofit newsroom, reports 84 deficiencies with total fines of $170,000. Some complaints involving Senath South Health Care Center include:

• Physical abuse by staff – A Certified Nurse Associate responded to physical assault by a mentally ill resident by punching the resident repeatedly in the eye. On a separate occasion, a staff member slapped a resident in response to verbal aggression. 
• Physical abuse by other residents – A resident attacked another resident, causing serious injuries, including bleeding in the brain and an orbital wall fracture. In another incident, a staff member napped while the resident they’d been assigned to monitor one-on-one stabbed another resident in the face and hand several times with glass. 
• Unsafe, unclean environment – Inspection of a shared room revealed feces on a light switch, a hole in the bathroom door, and flies swarming the residents. Bed linens, window coverings, the window screen, the sink, and the privacy curtain were missing. 
• Lack of appropriate treatment and care – Multiple reports indicated that wounds and ulcers were not appropriately identified and addressed. 
• Unacceptable standards of practice – When preparing to administer an injection, an RN accidentally punctured a resident in the hand. The RN used the contaminated needle to inject the resident. Staff did not report the injury or failure to use a clean needle as required by law. 
• Lack of a care plan that meets all the resident’s needs – A resident engaged in destructive behavior, including throwing urine and feces and pulling sinks and toilets out of the bathroom. The resident’s care plan did not address these behaviors despite measures being necessary to provide a clean and safe environment.
• Lack of behavioral health care – Several residents did not receive appropriate mental health care despite recorded diagnoses of mental health conditions and reported verbal aggression, physical aggression, self-harm, or physical destruction of property. 
• Inadequate supervision – A resident who unsuccessfully attempted to flee the nursing home several times had been assigned one-on-one monitoring. Left unattended, the resident fled and was discovered in farmland over a mile from the facility. The resident exited through a locked door, scaled an 11-foot fence, crossed a two-lane highway, and was discovered by the property owner.