Nursing Home Cited 9 Times, Fined $30,000 : Camarillo: Facility officials say the increase in complaints this year stems from problems with one patient’s family.

A Camarillo nursing home has been cited nine times since January and fined $30,000 by state health officials for problems with patient care and management, according to state documents.

State Department of Health Services officials in Ventura are investigating additional complaints at the Camarillo Convalescent Hospital, which serves about 100 patients.

However, hospital officials say they have been falsely accused of wrongdoing and have filed a lawsuit against the state asking that the hospital’s record be cleared. They say many of the citations against the facility this year stem from the complaints of one family whose members expect more than the convalescent hospital is able to provide.

A jury trial on the suit is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Ventura County Superior Court.

According to state documents, alleged problems leading to citations at the hospital include:

* A 79-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease wandered away from the facility and broke his leg. His health continued to deteriorate, and he died several days later.

* Two patients developed advanced bedsores. In one case, the staff “failed to identify . . . the ulcer until it became black and necrotic.”

* The hospital’s freezer was in disarray, and food had freezer burn.

* Water was not readily made available to the patients. State inspectors found that numerous patients had no water pitchers or drinking glasses at their bedsides.

* Hospital officials tried to evict a patient whose family complained about her care.

* Staff failed to provide insulin to a patient at the scheduled time. Although the patient did not become ill, she could have gone into a diabetic coma, state officials said. The patient also was moved to another room without the consent of her family.

* Hospital administrators were not at the facility “a sufficient number of hours to permit adequate attention to the management.”

* One patient said she had been struck in the legs by a staff member. State investigators observed red marks on the woman’s legs.

Shirley Redding, who leads a county agency that monitors long-term care facilities, said the only other hospital in the county with numerous citations is Maywood Acres Healthcare in Oxnard, which has been cited four times this year and has been fined $10,100. The most serious citation at the Oxnard facility involves a June 14 incident in which a 94-year-old woman fell and fractured her hip. According to state documents, investigators said the resident should not have been allowed to walk unassisted.

Redding said she keeps citations on file for review by families looking for nursing homes. She said “people are shocked” when they see Camarillo Convalescent’s file, the thickest of the bunch. Ventura County has 21 long-term care hospitals.

“People say, ‘Is that the file?’ ” Redding said, holding Camarillo Convalescent Hospital’s two-inch-thick folder. “I don’t have to say any more. The file speaks for itself.”

“Do I think they have a problem?” asked John Venegas, the deputy attorney general handling the state case. “Yes, definitely. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

But hospital administrator Margaret Devoir said the allegations against the facility are unfounded, and the hospital has “a lot of proof that tells us we are right.”

Devoir said she believes the staff is providing the patients with the best care possible. Normally, she said, complaints are minimal.

In 1990, the hospital was issued four citations for the entire year, totaling $5,400 in fines. None were considered serious by state inspectors.

“I would say the majority of our patients are very, very happy,” Devoir said.

The hospital’s attorney, Eugene L. Trope, added: “If something is not right, we try to resolve it.”

Lana Pembley, a district administrator for the Department of Health Services, declined to comment on the citations because of the pending lawsuit.

But Devoir said many of the complaints were made by Linda Callahan of Oxnard, whose 83-year-old mother is a resident at the facility. Callahan and her husband, David, urged state health officials to investigate the hospital.

Devoir said the Callahans are too demanding.

“We don’t get paid to provide one-to-one care, and that’s what they expect,” Devoir said. She said she thinks the couple’s excessive demands stem from “the guilt they have to live with” for not being able to care for the elderly woman themselves.

But Linda Callahan said her concern has nothing to do with guilt, although “we feel bad this is the best we can do under the circumstances.” She said she is worried about the facility’s quality of care.

For example, Callahan said the hospital staff was five hours late giving insulin to her diabetic mother, a patient at the hospital since November.

She said her mother was moved to a noisy room, disrupting her sleep. Callahan said the staff has placed her mother in diapers and left her in them when they were wet.

“We’re not troublemakers,” Linda Callahan said. “But you need a family member to be observant.”

Her husband added: “If something is going on, we bring it to their attention.”

The couple also brought their concerns to the attention of state health officials, who are obligated by law to investigate all complaints.

In all, Linda Callahan said, they made about 13 complaints to the state, which resulted in three citations to the hospital.

Callahan said, when she complained, the hospital gave her 30 days notice to move her mother because of “unsolvable differences.”

Hospital officials later withdrew the notice after they were informed by an attorney that they could not evict a Medicare patient. The state cited the hospital for attempting to evict Callahan’s mother and fined the facility $10,000.

Callahan said she would like to place her mother in another facility, but she is fearful that moving her would do more harm than good.

“My mother has friends there,” Callahan said. “It’s hard to move an old person like that. We feel like we’re in a bad situation.”

Other patients’ families say they are happy with the hospital. George Emanuel said his 83-year-old wife, Venetta, has lived at the hospital since April, and he has been pleased with her treatment.

“Everyone I’ve come in contact with has treated my wife beautifully,” Emanuel said. “I’m real happy about what I’ve seen there.”

Ivera Stanton, a 90-year-old patient at the hospital, said that “there are a lot of things that could be improved,” but she still is satisfied with the care at the facility.

“It’s a fine place,” Stanton said. “I don’t think I could do much better.”

Marjorie Spears said her husband, Robert, 76, has been at the facility since December, and at times, she has been concerned that patients were not getting enough water.

But, she said, “You are not going to find perfection. You have to learn not to be so picky.”