Raleigh rehab facility fined $31,000 after quadriplegic man's death
A report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) validates a father’s suspicions that his son did not merely fall out of bed at a long-term care facility on his own.
The report states the facility was found to have a deficiency.
After an investigation into the incident, Raleigh Rehabilitation Center on Wade Avenue was fined $31,320, according to a spokesperson for CMS. A letter from the agency to Raleigh Rehab states "conditions in your facility constituted immediate jeopardy to residents’ health and safety and substandard quality of care," and explains the facility was fined roughly 10,000 a day for three days of non-compliance, beginning the date of Carl Michaud’s fall.
In August, WRAL reported on the death of Michaud, a quadriplegic man who had been living at Raleigh Rehab for year. His father, who goes by the same name, told WRAL Investigates the facility said his son had fallen out of bed on his own. The father said then that would be impossible, as his son only had slight movement of his head.
The report, obtained by the older Michaud and provided to WRAL Investigates, explains what happened July 12, according to interviews state investigators conducted with staff members.
It says a nursing assistant was caring for Michaud and "she left [him] on his right side with the bed at waist height and exited the room to speak with the nurse and obtain supplies. While unattended, [he] fell off the bed onto his back on the floor hitting his head, resulting in a hematoma."
It was a housekeeper who then found him on the floor.
"I’m glad the truth came out in the end," the patient’s father told WRAL Investigates in a phone interview. "There’s a lot that needs to be done to rectify this."
The state wrote that Raleigh Rehab failed to keep the facility free of accidents and hazards and ensure each resident "receives adequate supervision" … "to prevent accidents."
In the state’s interview with the nursing assistant, she said the staffing agency for which she worked "would not send her back to work at the facility."
The man’s father believes she should not be allowed to see patients anywhere.
"I probably would have a hard time forgiving her, because it was my son," he said. "And she’s the one who has to live with the fact that she did something that caused a person’s death."
The state’s report notes that because the issue was one of "past noncompliance," no corrective action was required. It notes, though, that Raleigh Rehab did provide additional training and education to staff to try to prevent future incidents.
Michaud hopes his son’s story will be a caution for other families with loved ones in long-term care facilities.
"I hope it makes a difference," he said. "And, you know, I hope it brings to light that families should check on their loved ones. How many people don’t have family to defend them, and things like this get listed as an accident, and it goes away?"
WRAL Investigates asked Raleigh police if officers intended to pursue any criminal charges in Michaud’s death. A spokesperson said: "The investigation has been closed, and no charges have been filed."
