Do you know someone who has experienced abuse or neglect while residing at a local Tyrone nursing home? You and your loved one may be entitled to a significant cash settlement. To learn more, don’t hesitate to visit SchenkSmith.com. Better yet, give us a call to set up your free legal consultation.
Abuse and neglect occur every day in Georgia nursing homes. Abuse can range from theft and verbal threats to physical violence and psychological torture. Neglect, meanwhile, takes the form of bedsores, malnutrition, and horrific living conditions. Regardless of whether neglect or abuse is at play, it is critical to remove your loved one from their situation as quickly as possible.
My Loved One Was Badly Injured—Can I Sue the Nursing Home?
You may absolutely sue the nursing home if your loved one was injured while living as a resident at that facility. Georgia courts regularly find nursing homes at a fault for injuries sustained in their facilities. Alternatively, some nursing homes simply decide to settle outside of court to avoid the damage to their reputation.
The attorneys at Schenk Smith will always be honest with you about whether or not it would be wise to sue a nursing home. We tend to recommend against suing a nursing home if the evidence chain is extremely scarce. Other times, a family waits too long to take action, and suing ceases to become an option.
How Long Do I Have to Wait to Sue the Nursing Home?
You don’t have to wait at all. You can sue a nursing home as soon as you suspect they abused or neglected your loved one. However, we do not recommend that, for a few reasons:
- Successful cases take time to build: You want to gather as much evidence as possible early on, thus increasing your chances of a settlement or court victory.
- You may want to move your loved one out of the home prior to suing: This is a precautionary measure and we suggest it to all of our clients.
- Give your attorneys time to review the case: The abuse or neglect may be obvious to you, but it won’t necessarily be obvious to a judge right away. Allowing your attorneys time to review your case before you sue will only make your case stronger.
We Are Schenk Smith, Your Tyrone Nursing Home Lawyers
Are you worried the nursing home will get away with what they did to your loved one? We’re here to tell you that you don’t need to feel that way. Since 2013, Schenk Smith has helped over 100 Georgia families secure just and fair outcomes for their loved ones. We’ve secured millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts to date, and never charge our clients a dime unless we win their case.
Other law firms may be able to assist you. But at Schenk Smith, we treat our clients like family. And we do everything in our power to make sure they’re given a fair shake in court.
We proudly represent senior citizens and their families in Tyrone, Georgia. Regardless of whether you live nearby Lake Tyrone, Palmetto Road, or Cooks Lake, we’ve got your back.
Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect in Tyrone, Georgia – What you need to know.
Tyrone, Georgia is located in Fayette County and has a population of 7,121 residents. Of those, 11.7% are aged 65 and older. Like many cities across Georgia, Tyrone’s senior citizens confront abuse and neglect on a daily basis, and need our protection now more than ever.
How Do I Know Whether My Loved One Was Neglected at a Nursing Home?
Nursing home neglect is a fact of life for many senior citizens across the state of Georgia and throughout the U.S. Unfortunately, the situation is set to get even worse, as more and more people enter their later years and arrive at already-crowded nursing home facilities.
Families are the most important line of defense against elder neglect. If family members are trained to spot neglect, they can get the home’s management involved, or, if that proves ineffective, they can contact the local authorities and hire an experienced attorney to represent their loved one.
Nursing home neglect itself takes many forms, but the most obvious signs include:
- Bedsores of any stage: Be vigilant for red splotches or even open wounds on your loved one’s body, especially the areas where there is a bony prominence (ankles, elbows, tailbone are especially important).
- Poor hygiene: If your loved one regularly smells like urine or body odor, there is a strong likelihood that neglect is occurring. Also check for long fingernails, matted hair, and bad breath.
- Malnutrition: A steady drop in energy levels and weight could be a sign that neglect is causing serious malnutrition in your loved one.
What Are The Most Common Injuries at a Nursing Home?
It comes as no surprise that nursing homes see a high rate of injuries and infections. Nursing homes care for one of the most high-risk populations in the country. And while many of these nursing homes do their best to limit certain injuries, they cannot prevent 100% of them.
Many common nursing home injuries are accidents, but not all of them. Sometimes, a nursing home could have done far more to prevent those injuries from occurring. Some of the most common injuries which this applies to include:
- Broken bones, muscle tears, and bruising from falls: A fall is one of the most serious and life-threatening events that can happen in a nursing home. And they tend to happen quite frequently. Falls can lead to broken hips and knees, concussions, internal bleeding and even death. Nursing homes must regularly assess patients and provide the necessary tools to limit falls among their residents.
- Bedsores: Bedsores occur when nursing home staff fails to regularly change a resident’s position in bed. Bedsores can occur in as short of a time frame as two hours, and can become so large that they destroy skin cells, tendons, and muscle tissue.
- Infections: Whether from a past surgery, a meal, or even a simple scrape or cut, infections can be devastating to a nursing home resident. Sepsis and septic shock often lead to emergency hospital visits and even death, and should never be ignored.
Why Does Nursing Home Neglect Occur?
Nursing home neglect occurs for many reasons. Overworked staff, nursing shortages, poor management, and increasingly expensive medical supplies all play a role in neglectful practices. Even if nursing staff is well-meaning, they may simply have no support and too few resources to provide a safe and caring living environment.
Let’s go over these issues in a bit more detail:
- Overworked staff: If a nursing home admits too many residents and hires too few staff members, it can cause havoc in the community. Overworked nurses simply cannot manage the workload, leading to mistakes and more instances of neglect.
- Nursing shortages: The United States is experiencing a very difficult nursing shortage, which in turn limits a nursing home’s ability to provide care for its residents.
- Poor management: If management fails to follow state and federal regulations, or leaves their nursing staff with no direction, it can dramatically reduce the quality of care.
- Expensive medical supplies: Medical supplies and pharmaceuticals continue to increase in cost, meaning nursing homes have a reduced budget for new staff and better care.
My loved one was hurt in a Tyrone nursing home – What do I do next?
If your loved one was severely injured or passed away at a Tyrone, Georgia nursing home, then we recommend that you act as soon as possible to protect your loved one’s rights.
First, report the incident to the appropriate Georgia authorities
Georgia Department of Community Health
If you’d like to report an incident of abuse or neglect to the proper governmental authorities, the Georgia Department of Community Health is your best bet. The DCH regulates and licenses all nursing homes within state limits and can send regulators to review their facility and practices at any time.
You can file a complaint with the Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation online by clicking this link. Here is additional contact information:
Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation
Complaint Hotline: (800) 878-6442
Complaint Fax: (404) 657-5731
Georgia Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
The Georgia Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman is a program which mediates disputes between nursing homes and their residents/families. Professionals from the Ombudsman office have legal authority to enter nursing home premises and review their facilities for possible infractions of state and federal law.
You can file a complaint with the Georgia Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman online by clicking on this link. Here is additional contact information:
West Region –Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
1743 Hardin Avenue
College Park GA 30337-2059
Telephone: (678) 378-2934
Fax: (404) 768-8512
You may report physical assault or abuse to local law enforcement
You may want to contact both state and local authorities in the event of a serious crime such as physical assault, rape, or theft. If you witness a crime while visiting your loved one in a Tyrone nursing home, you should dial 911.
For abuse occurring in a Tyrone, Georgia nursing home, report the crime to the Police Department of Tyrone or to the Fayette County Sheriff.
945 Senoia Rd,
Tyrone, GA 30290, USA
Telephone: (770) 461-4441
Fayette County Sheriff’s Office
155 Johnson Ave
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Telephone: (770) 461-6353
District Attorney’s Office: Griffin Judicial District
1 Center Dr
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Telephone: (770) 716-4250
Find another facility for your loved one.
After contacting state and local officials to review the conduct of the nursing home, you may wish to seek new living arrangements for your loved one. It is completely natural to want to remove your loved one from their current residence, despite the inconveniences it may cause to your family.
The good news is finding a nearby facility doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many tools available to help you identify the best fit for your loved one. And one of the best tools by far is medicare.gov’s Nursing Home Compare tool. Click here to go to the Nursing Home Compare Website.
With Nursing Home Compare, you can review homes based off of important criteria such as staff quality, past health violations, and overall quality scores.
For your convenience, a list of all nursing homes located within Tyrone, Georgia is located below, along with their contact information and inspection scores.
Get the medical records from the hospital and the nursing home.
If your loved one experienced complications or injuries during his or her time at a local nursing home, there’s a chance the medical records from that period could prove that abuse or neglect were the cause.
Of course, getting the medical records from a nearby hospital is easier said than done. Don’t expect the nursing home to be of much help as you approach local hospitals for your loved one’s records. In addition to that, you’ll need a power of attorney or other guardianship credentials on hand before you can even look at your loved one’s medical history.
These challenges can be daunting to anybody. And there have been plenty of cases where it’s simply faster and more efficient for a law firm to get these records for you. At Schenk Smith, we’ve performed this task for dozens of past clients.
The other factor, as we mentioned, is finding the hospital which has your loved one’s records. If you live in Tyrone, Georgia, there are two nearby hospitals which are the most likely candidates for those records. For your convenience, we’ve provided the names and contact information of both.
Telephone: (770) 631-9999
Peachtree City Urgent Care
Telephone: (770) 487-2273
Begin the probate process if your loved one has passed away.
We are sorry to hear about the loss of your loved one. In the event that your family member’s death was caused by abuse or neglect at the hands of nursing home staff, you are given an opportunity to represent his or her interests by preparing an estate and filing a lawsuit on their behalf.
Creating an estate will allow an individual close to the deceased an opportunity to manage his or her affairs after death. That includes filing lawsuits, managing finances, and fulfilling the obligations of a will. To begin the process, the family will need to sit down and select the administrator or executor of the estate. Once that’s been accomplished, the next step is to visit your county’s probate court to fill out the necessary paperwork.
The probate court process is fairly straightforward, albeit time consuming. However, if you have concerns, we can help you navigate any legal questions you may have about the process. Feel free to contact our law firm any time day or night to set up a free consultation. Or review the Schenk Smith website to learn more about how probate courts work.
Click here for the Probate Court of Fayette
Fayette County Probate Court
1 Center Dr
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Telephone: (770) 716-4220
Tyrone Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Near Me (678) 823-7678
Nursing Homes in Tyrone, Georgia
Are you looking for another nearby nursing home for your loved one? We’ve provided a list of nearby homes to help you do just that. This information is taken from our CMS Nursing Home Compare Website.
| Southland Health and Rehabilitation
151 Wisdom Road Peachtree City, GA 30269 |
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 (Average)
Number of Beds: 155 Number of Residents: 135 RN hours per resident per day: 19min (GA Avg: 34min) |
| Health Inspection Rating: 2 out of 5 (Below Average)
Staff Rating: 3 out of 5 (Average) Quality Measure Rating: 4 out of 5 (Above Average) Most Recent Health Inspection Date: 01-11-2018 Number of Health Citations: 2 Average Number of Health Citations in Georgia: 3.2 Number of Complaints in previous 3 years resulting in citation: 0 Federal fines in previous 3 years: 0 |
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| Concordia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center – Lafayette
110 Brandywine Boulevard Fayetteville, GA 30214 |
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 (Average)
Number of Beds: 179 Number of Residents: 144 RN hours per resident per day: 21min (GA Avg: 34min) |
| Health Inspection Rating: 2 out of 5 (Below Average)
Staff Rating: 3 out of 5 (Average) Quality Measure Rating: 5 out of 5 (Much Above Average) Most Recent Health Inspection Date: 07-13-2017 Number of Health Citations: 3 Average Number of Health Citations in Georgia: 3.2 Number of Complaints in previous 3 years resulting in citation: 0 Federal fines in previous 3 years: 0 |
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Why Choose Schenk Smith as your Nursing Home Lawyers?
We have one mission here at Schenk Smith, and that’s to give your elderly loved one the just and fair outcome they deserve. Elder abuse and neglect can be traumatizing to both senior citizens and their families. The least we can do is make the law suit process as simple and easy as possible for Georgia’s residents.
Since 2013, Schenk Smith has helped 100+ clients fight back against nursing home abuse and neglect. Some of the reasons we’ve been so successful include:
- Our dedication to Georgia’s senior citizen community: Schenk Smith attorneys are members of multiple senior citizen advocacy groups, and we attend and sometimes even lead continuing legal education seminars which confront topics related to elder abuse and neglect.
- Our passion for elder law: Schenk Smith is a specialty law firm that focuses exclusively on elder abuse and neglect cases. That makes us more experienced and more knowledgeable about this type of case than other law firm in Georgia.
- Our commitment to a contingency-based payment model: Our clients don’t pay us anything unless we win their case. We do not work on an hourly basis, and will never blindside you with huge legal bills.
If your loved one was injured or died in a Tyrone, Georgia nursing home, please call us at Schenk Smith (678) 823-7678 for a free consultation. You can also check out hundreds of video FAQs on our website.