Consumer Investigation: ‘It was absolutely disgusting’. Family member recounts her experience at Charlotte nursing home
CHARLOTTE, N.Y. — News10NBC continues its investigation into Waterview Heights Nursing Center, where allegations of understaffing are raising concerns about resident safety. Deanna Dewberry, a News10NBC investigative reporter, has been delving into this issue, with numerous viewers reaching out about the facility’s conditions.
There’s now a “for sale” sign on the bricked entry to what was once the grounds of Waterview Heights. That sign is the first indication that something is terribly wrong. The parking lot and plot of land adjacent to Beach Avenue will now go to the highest bidder. That’s because the company that owns Waterview Heights, The Grand Healthcare System, didn’t pay the taxes and those plots of land went into foreclosure. While the building itself is not in foreclosure, family members say it certainly looks like it.
“It was absolutely disgusting,” said Shari Savary. “When I first walked in, just the filth. When I walked by the ice machine and I found out they actually used it, I was absolutely disgusted.”
Savary’s brother, Jeff Mietelski was a resident at Waterview following a heart attack and stroke. He required nebulizer treatments and oxygen.
She said it was clear to her that he was receiving little care.
“He was always soiled,” Savary remembered. “Half the time he didn’t have a gown because they didn’t have clean linens.”
She recounted finding her brother struggling to breathe, with his oxygen tube on the floor instead of connected to the machine. The next morning her brother had to be rushed to the hospital because he was unresponsive. Fortunately, he survived and Savary eventually moved her brother to a different facility, but it’s more than an hour away.
A nurse recently shared a video from inside Waterview Heights, highlighting the challenges faced during her shift. Michele Jackson, a licensed practical nurse, described the chaos she encountered due to understaffing. During a video she shot inside the facility she said, “I’m just a nurse. There’s no aides on my unit. There’s only two nurses in the whole unit actually,” she said. Jackson explained that she was responsible for over 30 residents during an 18-hour shift.
Jackson said, “It [Waterview Heights] needs to be shut down. I’m sorry. It’s a horrible place.”
Savary echoed that sentiment saying, “I don’t know why the health department hasn’t shut it down. If it was a restaurant, it would have been shut down a long time ago.”
A spokesperson for The New York State Health Department stated that Waterview’s Special Focus Facility designation outlines mandated improvements, but the department has the authority to revoke the nursing home’s operating certificate if needed.
Dewberry reached out to executives with The Grand Healthcare System, the owner of Waterview. Those calls and text messages have gone unanswered. Waterview’s Director of Nursing responded to inquiries with, “Please stop texting me.”
If you’re considering nursing home care, it’s important to do your research. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid rate nursing homes. Click here for those ratings. And the State Department of Health makes nursing home inspections public. Click here to access those.
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