HOUSTON – There are hundreds of nursing homes in the greater Houston area, but finding one you can trust to take care of your loved one is difficult.
Friday at 10 p.m., consumer expert Amy Davis is will report on her investigation of nursing homes in our area with the most violations and what regulators are doing about them.
Kabir Butt contacted Davis about concerns he had about the care his 89-year-old father, Ghulam, was receiving at Richmond Healthcare Center, where he lives. The senior Butt cannot speak because he had a laryngectomy.
Employees called Kabir on a Friday in January to let him know his father had gotten into a disagreement with another resident the day before and he had some "minor bruising."
When Kabir went to visit on Saturday, he saw his father had two black eyes.
"I can not even imagine what he went through," said the younger Butt.
When Kabir pressed nurses for more information, he says what they described was an assault on his father by another resident. His dad was in his room and unable to cry out for help.
"The only way he could get his attention was by beating on the wall because of his laryngectomy," Butt told Davis.
Butt said no one from the nursing home reported the assault to state regulators.
No one from Richmond Health Care Services returned our call for comment; but after this story aired, a representative of the nursing home's corporate office emailed this statement:
"I am responding to the story that aired on 5/17/19, regarding Ghulam Butt, a resident at Richmond Healthcare Center. As referenced in the story, Mr. Butt was injured in January 2019, during an altercation with another resident. Immediately following the altercation, the facility notified Mr. Butt’s son and responsible party of the incident, conducted a proper clinical assessment of the resident and initiated a full investigation. Within twenty-four hours of the altercation, the facility had reported the incident and outcome to both the Richmond Police Department and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; and notified Mr. Butt’s son of our actions. Therefore, the son’s statement that we did not notify the state was demonstrably false. I would also like to note that in accordance with regulatory requirements, we are not allowed to restrain our residents, and while we sincerely regret the incident and the injury suffered by Mr. Butt, there were absolutely no previous indications that this incident would have occurred and we strongly feel that the appropriate actions were taken in this situation."
If you have a loved one in a nursing home or if you are looking for a nursing home, you can see how homes are rated by the federal government and get more information on Medicare.gov.