NEWTOWN, Conn. — Another Connecticut nursing home has been found to be in violation of serious health and safety standards. The Department of Health issued an immediate jeopardy order to Newtown Rehab and Health Care. An order of immediate jeopardy means that state inspectors found something so bad it presented a risk of serious injury or death. Newtown Rehab is operated by Athena Healthcare.
When Paola Lopez went to visit her father, Hermann, at Newtown Rehab on Christmas morning, she found a trail of urine leading to him.
“My father has been a very proud man. Very clean. Very well kept. To find my father in a puddle of urine sitting in a wheelchair…He was in a Johnny coat, cold. His socks were soaking wet. Inhumane conditions that we found him in. It brought my mom to tears,” explained Lopez.
Hermann, like so many other residents, has Alzheimer’s and dementia and is unable to advocate for his own needs. “We are very active with my father’s care. We are very present. So imagine the people who don’t have family to visit these people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. What type of care are they getting?” asked Lopez.
CT Longterm Care Ombudsman Mairead Painter said complaints about the facility center around a lack of staff to care for individualized needs. “It’s currently three hours a day of hands-on care per resident and if they are not meeting that threshold, we really feel they should not be bringing other individuals into the home,” said Painter.
Athena Healthcare has voluntarily stopped accepting new admissions and is working to implement a corrective action plan. But complaints about Athena go beyond the Newtown facility. The company is facing several lawsuits. Accused of wrongful death, failing to pay temporary workers, and failing to pay employee health benefits.
The company operates 21 homes caring for more than 2,500 residents, 130 of whom are in Newtown.
In a statement, Athena responded to FOX61 with a statement that reads in part, “We have come to agreements with the temporary staffing agencies to resolve past-due amounts and have worked diligently on rebuilding our workforce.” Athena went on to say, ”we are confident that we are on the continued path of high-quality care.”
The state has since lifted its immediate jeopardy decree. Athena has 23 days to come into complete compliance or potentially lose their Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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