Nursing home wants slate wiped clean on federal sex-abuse citation based on hand holding
A nursing home in Nebraska wants its record cleared of a sex abuse deficiency report that was based on federal inspectors seeing two Alzheimer's patients holding hands and hugging.During an April 2010 inspection, The Golden Living Center-Grand Island Lakeview received a deficiency report because of the couple's affectionate behavior, causing the facility to lose federal funding. The inspections department reversed the report days later, and the funding was restored. However, the deficiency still comes up in online searches of federal nursing home databases, according to an Associated Press report. The database records show that the facility was cited and that the problem was addressed, but it does not provide information about how or why it was corrected.
According to the lawsuit, Lakeview says the couple's behavior was limited to hand holding and touching while in a lounge area, and that the residents' families were aware of the limited contact the couple shared. The lawsuit claims Lakeview wasn't allowed to appeal the deficiency because the denial of public funding was reversed. The facility's attorney said this means the deficiency remains on the record, the AP reported.
