Nursing Home Fined for Not Preventing Patient from Jumping Out of Window

The June 1 incident happened after the man threatened to climb out of a second-story window of the Iroquois Nursing Home.

Nursing Home Fined for Not Preventing Patient from Jumping Out of Window

Photo via Adobe, by maykal

Jamesville, New York – Iroquois Nursing Home was fined $20,780 by the federal government this summer for not preventing a 78-year-old patient from jumping out of a window.

The June 1 incident happened after the man threatened to climb out of a second-story window so he could go home, reports Syracuse.com. According to the findings for the state health department on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Iroquois staff failed to supervise the patient closely, and it was cited for immediate jeopardy.

The incident happened only a few hours after the male patient was admitted to the facility for rehabilitation.

The patient used a mop to break a window. He was then able to climb through the window and jump. He fell about 20 feet and was found lying on the grass with the mop next to him, reports the publication.

The patient was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries sustained during the fall, which included laceration of the spleen and a fractured pelvis. He died this past summer.

CMS found the nursing home failed to report the incident to the state health department. Home officials, however, called it an accidental fall and didn’t think it needed to be reported because the resident hadn’t tried to escape or said he wanted to leave.

But a nurses aide told investigators a different version of the incident.

In response to the fine, Iroquois Nursing Home officials said they plan on disputing some of CMS’ findings. They also said they’ve retrained staff on identifying patients who might wander as well as checked every second-story window for safety.

The same nursing home had 49 residents die from COVID-19 last year. Syracuse.com reports that staff were overwhelmed by the surge and unable to save many of the residents.

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