9 Investigates: Health officials hear many complaints about nursing facilities

There are more than 400 nursing facilities across North Carolina designed to provide therapy and safe homes for thousands of seniors.

But one Concord woman said her husband was severely neglected at one of them. Some local health officials said despite how highly regulated the system is, they hear dozens of complaints every week and worry that recent Medicare cuts will make things worse.

Eyewitness News went through hundreds of pages of inspection records investigating complaints of medical errors, falls and wandering residents.

Mamie Robinson said she didn't know what to expect when she brought her husband, Angrus, to Avante at Concord in May 2010.

Angrus had suffered a stroke and needed therapy.

"When we first got there, it was all bright and pretty," Robinson said. "People were real friendly."

But by August, she said Angrus was losing weight dramatically. She said he complained his throat hurt and he couldn't swallow his food.

"How many times did you tell the staff there that you were worried?" Eyewitness News asked.

"The whole month of August," she said.

On Sept. 22, Robinson demanded the staff rush Angrus to CMC. There, she said doctors found an infection in his throat and deep bedsores on his buttocks.

She said nurses never told her about them and that when they changed her husband, they put up a curtain so she never saw the wounds.

After surgery and treatment at home, Angrus died on Nov. 26, 2010.

"I wouldn't want anybody's loved one to endure that," Robinson said. "It was unbelievable. Someone had allowed this to happen."

Robinson's attorney, Luke Baker, is preparing to sue Avante at Concord.

Eyewitness News went there but officials said they were "unable to make a statement regarding the allegations related to A. Robinson due to HIPPA regulations."

Eyewitness News left several messages asking if they would provide a general statement on the level of care provided to Avante at Concord residents and the policies for addressing families' concerns, but officials at Avante at Concord did not return calls or emails.

"It happens more commonly than I think we're all aware of," Hillary Kaylor, regional ombudsman at Centralina Area Agency on Aging, said of families' complaints.

Kaylor represents families in mediations with nursing homes and hears complaints frequently -- from the food offered at homes to more serious allegations.

She said she's worried that recent cuts to Medicare will make things worse because facilities will receive less money for patients like Robinson.

"We feel that we're going to have an increased number of complaints and an increased number of quality care issues," she said.

Kaylor said she tells families to research the nursing home they are considering and visit it several times -- unannounced.

She also encourages them to talk to staff and families who are visiting their loved ones there.

"There are many facilities that perform and do wonderful things," she said. "Show up, pop in, go on a night, go on a weekend. See what you can find out."

Using Medicare.gov, Eyewitness News discovered more than 30 facilities within 50 miles of Charlotte ranked "below average" or "much below average" according to health inspections.

Through hundreds of pages in state investigation records, Eyewitness News found reports that included several citations of medication errors, a resident found outside with severe hypothermia, and one resident's leg fractured after being dropped by nurses.

"Is that worrisome to you?" Eyewitness News asked Jeff Horton, chief operating officer of the N.C. Division of Health Regulation.

"Of course," he said. "We always want to see people provided good care."

Horton oversees state inspections for nursing homes.

He said some places follow a "catch and fix" model: as long as they fix the problems -- and pay the fines -- by federal and state standards, they can continue to operate.

Eyewitness News asked what needs to change.

"I'm not sure that getting more enforcement is going to get you improvements in care," he said.

Horton said some mistakes are due to issues beyond regulators' control, like new ownership or staff. He said he believes change will only happen if people make use of the online rankings and information, bring in mediators if they have problems, and if that's not enough, file complaints with the state.

Kaylor agrees.

"I think the breakdown is that sometimes people don't make the complaints that they should," she said.

Robinson wishes she had gotten outside help.

"No one else's family should have to endure what we've had to endure," she said.

More Information:Compare nursing homesInspection information at nursing homesFile a complaint against a nursing homeContact a mediator