Alleged Abuses at New Mexico Nursing Homes Led to Injuries, Death

Two New Mexico nursing homes are under fire from two families and a whistleblower who have alleged abuse and neglect through a lawsuit against the companies.

If your loved one has suffered from mistreatment, poor care, neglect or abuse, do not hesitate to contact our accomplished nursing home abuse attorneys for help getting justice.

In December 2014, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King filed suit against Preferred Care Inc. and Cathedral Rock. Preferred Care operates several nursing home facilities in the state and took over a number of facilities that were previously owned by Cathedral Rock, which has since gone bankrupt and dissolved. The case is now being spearheaded by Attorney General Hector Balderas.

King filed the lawsuit after hiring a law firm to investigate the facilities. The investigation found that many locations were poorly managed and understaffed. The suit claims that because of these findings, the facilities took several hours to perform simple tasks such as bathing.

A New Complaint

When Balderas took over the case and the investigation, he filed a revised complaint in 2015 that included additional incidents of alleged abuse and neglect that took place at facilities owned by these companies between 2011 and 2014.

In one incident at a Preferred Care facility, a woman found her husband in a pool of urine that had been there for so long that it was beginning to dry. The woman sent her husband to the hospital where it was determined that he had an infection on his foot, was deathly anemic and was suffering from internal bleeding.

The woman noted that she had found her husband in poor condition on several occasions, but decided to pull him from the facility after this incident out of fear that she would lose her lifetime companion at the hands of the people she had entrusted with his care.

At another Preferred Care facility, a woman who intended to stay for only a month, died after suffering serious injuries from falling from her bed. The woman’s daughter noted that her mother was classified as a high risk for falls and that, despite the facility’s knowledge of her condition, she did not always receive the help she needed.

A third woman mentioned in Balderas’ complaint was a charge nurse at Casa Real nursing home, which at the time was owned by Cathedral Rock and is now owned by Preferred Care. She claimed that the facility was severely understaffed. She said she was given one nurse’s aide for every 22 patients, which led to many residents not getting bathed, toileted or changed regularly.

The complaint also claims that the two companies overbilled for Medicare and Medicaid, which is what the state is hoping to recoup in the lawsuit. Both Preferred Care andCathedral Rock continue to deny the allegations.

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