FAIRLAWN, Ohio — A local nursing home is listed among the worst in the country, according to an article by News 5 media partner Akron Beacon Journal.
Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center on Ridgewood Road is one of five nursing homes in Ohio on a national list of 88 federal “Special Focus Facilities” with the most serious history of quality of care issues, the article said.
Clogged toilets nearly overflowing with human waste, extremely cold patient rooms, skipped insulin doses and patients bathed only once a month are just some of the conditions described in the article.
In a review of the nursing home on U.S. News & World Report, the facility fell short in numerous areas, some of which were critical in their severity.
Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center has received the following health code violations, among others, according to U.S. News & World Report:
Nursing home has failed to provide enough nursing staff every day to meet the needs of every resident; and have a licensed nurse in charge on each shift.
Nursing home has failed to protect each resident from all types of abuse such as physical, mental, sexual abuse, physical punishment, and neglect by anybody.
Nursing home has failed to develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse, neglect, and theft.
Carol Hupp spoke to News 5 and said her husband, Jeffrey, moved into the facility last year due to kidney failure and dementia but a few months into his stay, he started to complain about his care.
"Sometimes they forgot to bring his meal," Hupp said. "He had bed sores really bad and they told him not to use the buzzer no more."
At first she thought Jefferey was confused, but changed her mind after speaking to a nurse who planned to quit her job.
"One of the nurses, she said, 'It's bad here.' She said, 'I didn't want to tell you, but it's bad,'" Hupp said.
Carol moved her husband to a different nursing home. He passed away a few months later.
Sam McCoy, the vice president of elder rights for Direction Home, is in charge of an ombudsman program for residents in long-term care facilities. He said his agency has investigated 14 complaints against the home in the last 12 months.
"We've had some issues on medication administration. That really concerns me. This is a healthcare facility. If you can't get the meds right, the medications aren't coming appropriately, that's a problem," McCoy said.
A 2018 inspection report by the Ohio Department of Health cited the nursing home over a number of issues, including failing to ensure a resident was supervised while smoking to prevent accidents, failing to ensure an antibiotic was administered upon a resident's return from the hospital in a timely manner and failing to ensure the kitchen was maintained in a clean and sanitary manner to prevent food contamination.
Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center did not respond to requests from News 5 for comment on Monday.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that federal regulators fined the nursing home $142,973 during a six-month period last year for failure to improve or correct health code violations.
More than 60 residents are currently living at Fairlawn Rehab, according to the Akron Beacon Journal article.
