Mission Point of Hancock cited for abuse, neglect of patients

HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) - The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has found a Hancock nursing facility in violation for neglect and abuse of patients.

According to a report from LARA released Wednesday, the agency cited Mission Point Nursing and Physical Rehabilitation Center of Hancock for abuse and neglect due to “insufficient staff to meet resident needs,” based on the following:

Failure to follow protocols related to turning and repositioning, checking and changing of briefs, showers, and basic supervision and care needs.
Failure to timely pay facility vendors to ensure supply chain fluidity.
Failure to maintain facility environmental safety, function, and order for all facility residents.

Overall, the report stated, “This deficient practice resulted in wide-spread neglect of all 42 facility residents at a level of immediate jeopardy.”

The investigation consisted of interviews with patients and staff in a survey of the facility that culminated on Sept. 14. Interviewees remained anonymous due to the nature of the complaints and “repeated verbalization of resident and staff concerns related to potential retaliation by the facility.”

In one interview from the report on Sept. 7, a resident said, “Sometimes I go two weeks without a shower. I (had) a shower day on Monday, and that was the first shower I had in 21 days.”

During an observation and interview on Sept. 9, as the report states, another resident “was observed crying out for ‘help’ while lying in her bed, flat on her back. [She] was dressed only in a hospital gown and incontinence brief. [She] had tears in her eyes as she cried, ‘I hardly have any help anymore. I am not able to get the help I need. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to go somewhere else. They (staff) don’t hardly come and see me. I am so lonely, with nobody to talk to.’

The resident interviewed on Sept. 9 also reported not receiving a shower as scheduled or being repositioned every two hours as required.

LARA’s report also includes interviews with staff. When asked about staffing levels, on Sept. 7, one staff member reportedly stated, “It has been terrible. Everyone is getting mandated (required overtime) over and over and over. Everyone is exhausted... Showers do not get done... I get mandated into nights, and one night it was one nurse and me... The residents are complaining about care not being provided...”

In a statement to TV6, Mission Point’s corporate office said, “We acknowledge that we have had staffing challenges like many of our peers and other organizations. We have also had some payment issues with vendors which we are correcting.”

Mission Point addressed the “many issues” listed in the report, saying, “[W]e are providing a response focused on the initiatives we have put in place to ensure that we are working through these issues.”

The health care services and management company outlined their plan moving forward to address the issues.

Regarding staffing shortages, the company said they are working with MDHHS to supplement staff and have set up contracts with a nursing/CNAs agency. They said they are continuing to recruit staff and currently have 5 CNA candidates. According to Mission Point, they are also reviewing staff compensation and “benchmarking it against peers in the market to determine next steps.”

To address reported nursing shortcomings, Mission Point said they have already found a new director of nursing, an RN who has her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). In addition, the company said they are, “leveraging regional clinical support to ensure patients are receiving proper care,” and are hosting daily incident command calls to ensure barriers to providing proper care are removed. Finally, the company said regional clinical leadership is reviewing clinical charting daily.

In response to the reports of inconsistent bathing specifically, Mission Point said, “Each resident has a plan of care, and the staff is expected to follow the plan of care. Residents do have the right to refuse showers and bathing.”

Finally, in response to reported vendor payment, Mission Point said the COO is meeting with the CFO and A/P team daily to work through challenges. The company said the COO has called several of the vendors to ensure payment has been processed.

The company also said a contractor has been out to assess roof damage caused by rain and repairs to the roof will be starting soon.

TV6 has requested comment from LARA and the Department of Health and Human Services for comment as well, but we have not yet heard back.