Centralia Nursing Home Listed in Class Action Suit
A class action lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court Thursday against a company that owns 15 Washington nursing home facilities
Posted August 22,
By Aaron VanTuyl
For The Chronicle
A class action lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court Thursday against a company that owns 15 Washington nursing home facilities, including one in Centralia.
Extendicare Homes, Inc., a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Extendicare Health Services, owns Riverside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 105 Alexander Street in Centralia and is now the subject of a suit that claims customers are lured in with false advertising and charged for services that are not provided.
Extendicare officials, in a prepared statement released this morning, said the suit has not yet been evaluated and has been referred to company lawyers.
The class-action suit has been filed by The Garcia Law Firm of Long Beach, Calif., and Stritmatter, Kessler, Whelan, Coluccio of Seattle on behalf of all Washington citizens who resided in one of the company’s Washington facilities from July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2008.
A press release about the suit, sent by the Garcia Law Firm said the complaints also allege that Extendicare keeps budgets so tight that appropriate staffing cannot be provided and residents don’t get the care they need.
“Basically, we believe that Extendicare’s corporate strategy and policy is to maximize profits at the expense of the elderly and vulnerable people it claims to serve,” said plaintiff attorney Stephen Garcia. “We all know that there is a direct correlation between elder abuse and staffing levels. In my opinion, the Extendicare facilities in Washington are elder abuse cases waiting to happen. It’s just a matter of whose parents or grandparents are going to be the victims.”
Jared Elliott, Extendicare’s vice president of Western Operations, said the company has not yet had time to evaluate the complaint.
“This is a class action lawsuit, which implies that all residents within the facility during the timeframe specified would have been equally impacted by any and all deficiencies the facilities received in any given survey,” he said, in the response release. “There are approximately 189 requirements that each facility must meet. These deficiencies are typically isolated to just a few residents and do not impact most residents in the facility.”
Riverside, according to the initial press release, was cited for 32 deficiencies in 2007 and 11 in 2006 by the state Department of Social and Health Services. According to the 88-bed home’s Web site, it is a provider of long-term skilled nursing care and short-term rehabilitation solutions.
Abridged
SOURCE: Centralia Chroniclehttp://www.chronline.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1219427455&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1
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