Byline: Ann Imse News Staff Writer News staff writer Michele Ames contributed to this report.
Federal nursing home inspectors checking on their Colorado counterparts last year found 77 violations in facilities where the state inspectors had found five.
All four homes re-examined in Colorado received good to spotless reviews from state inspectors, but thick files of complaints from the federal agents.
After regulators noted this discrepancy, the FBI began checking for possible bribery among state nursing home examiners.
That investigation has focused on the state's two top officials in charge of nursing home inspections. Colorado suspended both last week pending the outcome of the federal investigation.
The two are Paul Daraghy and Janell Little, director and deputy director of the state Health Facilities Division, which inspects hospitals, nursing homes and all other health care facilities. Last week, they reported to their superiors that federal prosecutors had subpoenaed their bank records.
Jane Norton, their boss and director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, responded by placing them on paid leave and securing the division's inspection records in case they are requested by investigators. She also ordered an internal audit.
In Colorado, the federal re-inspections between February 1999 and February 2000 were routine checks on the quality of state regulators. The federal Health Care Financing Administration re-examines 5 percent of each state's nursing homes each year, said spokesman Alex Trujillo.
Laura Wood of the state inspection office said the federal officers had different results because they went into the four homes on different days, and picked a different sample of residents for in-depth review.
The division also said that the federal inspectors have more resources for their reviews.
Virginia Fraser, the state's nursing home ombudsman, works in a separate agency but said that the federal review of the state inspectors was unfair.
``They go in with the intention of finding any small thing that they can,'' Fraser said.
According to the federal reports:
* At IHS at LaVilla Grande in Grand Junction, state inspectors found no problems on Nov. 2 and Nov. 17, 1999. Just a few weeks later, on Dec. 3, federal agents found 18 deficiencies.
Three caused harm to patients, and many were long-standing problems, according to the federal report. Some 21 residents lost significant amounts of weight in the previous six months without sufficient response by the medical staff. One lost 30 pounds in just two and a half months and was transferred to a hospice as a result.
* At Rocky Mountain Health Care Center in Denver, state inspectors found only one small problem on Jan. 4, 2000. The federal agents on Feb. 11 found 29 deficiencies. They found greasy film in the kitchen, staff failing to wash their hands, the smell of urine and smoke, and dirty floors. They also found insufficient staff to keep track of special diets, prepare food and keep food areas clean.
* At Cedars Health Care Center in Lakewood, state inspectors found three deficiencies on February 7, 1999. Just three weeks later, federal inspectors found 18.
Federal investigators found the residents were left in restraining rails and seat belts longer than necessary, or without evidence they were needed. Investigators also found that residents slept on stained bed linens and didn't have enough bath towels and wash cloths. ``Gross'' amounts of dirt were found on the floors. One resident who had difficulty eating lost 23 pounds in the previous year.
In this report, federal inspectors checked many of the same patients as the state inspectors, and ruled that eight of the violations were present when state reviewers were on-site.
* At Valley Manor Care Center in Montrose, federal investigators found 12 problems where state inspectors found only one. Federal agents found a patient who suffered repeated urinary tract infections and bed sores. They found 18 residents not receiving their special diets. Some patients suffered significant weight loss.
INFOBOX
INSPECTION DISCREPANCIES
Federal inspectors checking up on Colorado's nursing-home regulators found far more violations than did state inspectors:
Rocky Mountain Health Care Center, Denver
State inspection, Jan. 4, 2000: 1 deficiency.
Federal inspection, Feb. 11, 2000: 29 deficiencies.
Cedars Health Care Center, Lakewood
State inspection, Feb. 7, 1999: 3 deficiencies.
Federal inspection, Feb. 26, 1999: 18 deficiencies.
Valley Manor Health Care, Montrose
State inspection: May 10, 1999: 1 deficiency.
Federal inspection: June 11, 1999: 12 deficiencies.
IHS at LaVilla Grande, Grand Junction
State inspection, Nov. 2, 1999: 0 deficiencies.
Federal inspection, Dec. 3, 1999: 18 deficiencies, including 3 that caused actual harm to patients.
