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Company fined for too much sewage
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: January 2, 2013 - 5:39 PM
Company fined for too much sewage
A northern Minnesota company that dumped an excess amount of untreated sewage into a gravel pit was fined $15,000 and took “corrective action,” according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency last month.
Darlow Excavating, of McGregor, violated federal regulations when it overapplied untreated sewage by more than 80,000 gallons in 2009, 120,000 gallons in 2010 and 160,000 gallons in 2011, the MPCA said.
The company, which advertises excavation, septic system and pumping services, poured the sewage into a gravel pit it owns west of McGregor, which is about halfway between Brainerd and Duluth.
The violations created the potential to contaminate area groundwater, according to the agency.
State: Tobacco buyer evaded taxes
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: December 19, 2012 - 5:58 PMA Columbia Heights man who allegedly bought $33,430 worth of wholesale tobacco products in Illinois in February and brought them to Minnesota to sell to stores faces a felony charge of possession of untaxed tobacco products, according to a criminal complaint. Earlier this month, a Ramsey County judge decided there was enough evidence to proceed to trial.
According to the complaint, Hamza A. Abualzain is not a licensed distributor. Authorities discovered him standing next to a rental van filled with boxes of tobacco. A search of Abualzain’s cellphone found what appeared to be orders from customers, the complaint said .
By buying in Illinois, Abualzain avoided more than $23,300 in Minnesota taxes, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
'Get rich slow’ broker is facing discipline
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: December 18, 2012 - 10:16 AMA Minnetonka real estate broker whose “get rich slow” investment scheme persuaded lenders to issue more than $6 million in loans based on fraudulent applications should be disciplined by the Department of Commerce, an administrative law judge decided this month.
The department had suspended Steven R. Carver ’s real estate licenses in July until a judge could rule on the allegations.
Carver and his company Carver & Associates Real Estate led seminars in the mid-2000s that recruited “no money down” investors to act as buyers in rental property purchases. He inflated purchase prices and buyers received kickbacks at closing that they used to make down payments on those or additional properties, the judge’s decision said. Many of those properties went into foreclosure.
Carver gave false information to the state on three separate license applications and owes $155,000 in real-estate-related judgments, the judge found.
Area nursing homes cited for violations
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: December 17, 2012 - 2:29 PMOn Sunday Whistleblower wrote about metro-area nursing homes that had the highest number of federal deficiencies in the past three years. Read the article below or click here to read the original posting.
Today ProPublica, a non-profit news organization, launched a new version of their portal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service's "nursing home compare" database. ProPublica calls its tool "Nursing Home Inspect." It has some features that make it a little more user friendly than the government's site.
National data on the Nursing Home Inspect home page shows that Minnesota is about in the middle of the pack in terms of nursing home statewide that have lost their medicare or medicaid funding. It shows that Minnesota nursing homes are cited for a relatively small number of deficiencies, and the state is just about rock bottom in the amount of fines it issues.
Click on Minnesota in any map to find out how each nursing home performs in the categories of fines, deficiencies and the denial of federal funding. Click on individual nursing home names to get more information about those homes and their survey results.
The article from Sunday:
One nursing home repeatedly allowed a resident to leave a facility to visit an abusive boyfriend. Another home failed to properly report and investigate many instances of residents' bruises, abrasions and allegations of abuse by staff. Other homes had trouble with cleanliness, odors and flies.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) inspects and rates nursing homes that receive federal funds. Of the 111 nursing homes in the seven-county metro area evaluated by CMS, I've listed the 10 cited for the most violations between June 1, 2009, and Aug. 31, 2012, the past three CMS reporting periods. CMS has used three years of inspection data to rate nursing homes.
Many but not all of the deficiencies identified in the most recent reports have been described, as well as complaints substantiated by the Minnesota Office of Health Facility Complaints during the three-year period.
1 Crystal Care Center, Crystal, 62 violations
Failed to ensure a grab-bar met requirements; develop care plans for all residents; take an incontinent resident to the toilet on schedule; provide proper bed-sore treatment; date-mark opened medication and food; clean ovens; keep emergency call lights in working order.
2 Southside Care Center, Minneapolis, 51 violations
Failed to notify a physician and pharmacist of a client's condition; investigate or report instances of resident abuse, neglect or mistreatment; provide sanitary bathrooms; monitor the diet of a diabetic resident; monitor a resident's pulse; adequately staff nurses; have an infection-control program.
3 Golden Livingcenter - Lynwood, Fridley, 48 violations
Failed to fully document a complaint; get signed physician orders when a resident was transferred; maintain a sanitary, odor-free and comfortable facility; maintain a resident's "highest well being"; manage a resident's medications; control a fly problem.
Substantiated complaints: The home failed to notice when a resident cut off his wander bracelet and left the facility. It sent a resident to a clinic with a fever and a coccyx ulcer covered with feces. The resident was diagnosed with sepsis.
4 Presbyterian Homes of Arden Hills, 44 violations
Failed to immediately report and investigate an abuse allegation; fully develop a care plan for a resident at risk of pressure ulcers; monitor the diet of a diabetic resident; supervise a resident with balance issues; make sure a resident was hydrated; minimize risk of infection in the facility.
5 Woodlyn Heights Healthcare Center, Inver Grove Heights, 43 violations
Failed to address resident's complaints quickly; treat all residents with respect and maintain their dignity; treat or prevent a resident's pressure ulcers; train staff in safe procedures for transferring residents between bed and wheelchair; establish some care plans and implement others; provide adequate nurse staffing; maintain a sanitary kitchen.
6 Texas Terrace Care Center, St. Louis Park, 42 violations
Failed to serve food consistent with dietary requirements or preferences; maintain a sanitary facility; monitor a resident's weight; keep emergency call lights in working order.
Substantiated complaints: Staff failed to administer an antibiotic as prescribed. A resident died after staff improperly reacted to his low oxygen-saturation rate.
7 Golden Livingcenter - Chateau, Minneapolis, 42 violations
Failed to notify all residents prior to Medicaid benefits ending; treat residents with respect and maintain their dignity; maintain a sanitary facility; help a resident with grooming; supervise a resident adequately when his beard lit on fire while he was smoking.
Substantiated complaints: Offensive odors and inadequate housekeeping.
8 Camden Care Center, Minneapolis, 41 violations
Failed to develop policies to prevent abuse; neglect or mistreatment; neglected two residents who left the facility unsupervised and sustained injuries, and failed to immediately report the incidents; periodically assess a resident's functional capacity; develop a care plan for a resident with dentures or promptly deliver mended dentures; keep a refrigerator cold enough; maintain the facility in a safe, clean and comfortable condition; provide regular job reviews.
9 Robbinsdale Rehab & Care Center, Robbinsdale, 40 violations
Failed to provide accurate medical records upon discharge; assess and intervene in a resident's poor oral hygiene; reposition a resident every two hours; monitor the efficacy of all residents' medication; have a pharmacist review medications; date-mark medications; store and prepare food in a sanitary manner; keep emergency call lights in working order; train staff on how to move a resident safely.
Substantiated complaints: Facility let an unlicensed person dispose of medications.
Failed to immediately report or thoroughly investigate allegations by residents of being slapped by staff and numerous instances of bruises and abrasions. Failed to fully assess the behavior and abilities of residents; develop care plans; provide for residents' highest well being; prevent pressure ulcers; honor a resident's request to go to the toilet until it was too late; make sure residents were safe from burns; or explain the benefits and risks of flu shots.
Substantiated complaints: Failed to transcribe a doctor's order that a resident wear an arm sling.
Hard Data digs into public records and puts a spotlight on rule breakers in Minnesota. Contact me at jfriedmann@startribune.com.
Caregiver had sex with client
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: December 12, 2012 - 5:34 PMAn employee of a Brooklyn Park assisted-living facility was fired for having sex with a client, according to an Office of Health Facility Complaints report made public Tuesday.
While the relationship was consensual, it violated company policy, said Loriann Granados, spokesperson for the facility operator, Accessible Space, Inc.
The client, who Granados said isn’t cognitively impaired but depends on staff for basic physical care, said the man initiated a two month affair with her. Despite her request that he use a condom, they had unprotected sex and the client contracted a sexually transmitted disease, the report said. The client later felt the man “took advantage” of her.
The man denied having sex but emails “confirmed the client’s account,” the report said.
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