Celina nursing home charged with unsanitary conditions

Attorney General Gregg Abbott has taken action responding to a report the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) provided after investigating Amberwood Care Center in Celina.

DADS inspectors responded to a complaint about the facility, and their findings were represented by the Texas Office of the Attorney General in court. At the attorney general’s request, a Travis County District Court submitted a temporary restraining order against Amberwood Care Center and Owner James Jewel on July 20.

"Texans will not tolerate those who abuse and neglect our senior citizens," Abbott said. "These horrific conditions posed a severe threat to the health and safety of patients who deserve far better. The Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Aging and Disability Services are committed to protecting seniors and aggressively prosecuting those who neglect them."

Among their findings, DADS investigators documented the following:

• Patients suffering from bed ulcers, infections and chronic pain. Several languished in various stages of dehydration.

• Many residents told investigators that they were not being properly cared for, including an elderly woman who said she had to endure days of pain before a urinary tract infection was treated with antibiotics.

• Investigators reported unsanitary conditions throughout the facility. One DADS report described a patient's tracheotomy tube as being "coated with crust." The same patient had a catheter inserted into his arm which was several days old, putting him at risk of serious blood infection.

• Machines used to test blood sugar levels of diabetic patients were improperly calibrated.

• Ventilators that provided critical breathing assistance were set at dangerously high oxygen flow pressures.

• The facility had only 30 bedsheets for 42 residents.

Travis County State District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky issued a court order temporarily allowing the state to oversee operations at the nursing home. According to the document, David Crowson has been appointed as Trustee of the Amberwood Care Center granting him control over the facility “for the period of time necessary to eliminate the threat to the health and safety of the residents…until such time as DADS has determined that the facility can ensure continued compliance with the minimum standards for certification, or until further order of the Court.”

The document endows Crowson with additional powers including the authority to direct notification of residents and relatives of any patient transfers, to receive money currently held by DADS to perform duties, and to hire and fire assistants, consultants and employees of the facility. It further orders that “DADS shall disburse $200,000 to David Crowson for the trusteeship of (Amberwood Care Center) from the Emergency Nursing and Convalescent Trust Fund.”

According to a press release from the attorney general’s office, Crowson and his staff of nurses and state nurses are now attending to the immediate needs of the residents and securing their transfer to other licensed facilities.

“As you can see here, we’re not in a state of chaos,” Crowson said on Tuesday. “Nobody is checking out. In fact we’re readmitting a resident today.”

Cecilia Federov, press officer for DADS, said that Crowson works for the court, and he will be making an initial report to the court 10 days from when he began. “Mr. Crowson is a very experienced nursing facility and long term care center administrator for the state of Texas,” she said. “He is there to see if he can bring the facility back into compliance with state and federal regulation. If he feels that that cannot happen, he may recommend that the facility be closed.”

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