Nursing home could lose its license

Problems at St. Jude Specialty Care are in past, manager says

By Nick Budnick

The Portland Tribune, Feb 10, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

The state of Oregon is threatening to close an east Portland nursing home if the facility doesn’t get its act together.

Citing three bad inspection reports in the last two years as well as several complaints that were found to be valid, the state on Jan. 18 informed St. Jude Specialty Care on Southeast 136th Avenue that it’s prepared to strip the home of its license.

Such notices are very unusual and “a very big step for us to take, quite frankly,” said Elaine Young, nursing program director for the state Department of Human Services.

St. Jude officials said the problems are in the past, and expressed confidence that it could avoid closure.

“People are getting excellent care,” facility manager Steve Tait said. “I’ve been here as director of nursing for just three months; in that time every single one of the past problems has been rectified.”

If he is wrong, the facility could be placed into guardianship by the state, costing its owners an estimated $200,000 in legal and other costs, state officials said. It also would disrupt the lives of about 90 seniors, four-fifths of them hailing from Portland. All suffer from dementia.

According to state reports, the facility has been rife with problems. In its notice threatening closure, the state said St. Jude had engaged in a “pattern of conduct” that “has resulted in harm to facility residents.” The alleged conduct includes cases of abuse, failure to investigate an allegation of abuse and unsanitary conditions.

“The facility has repeatedly failed to take corrective action to assess resident needs and take appropriate measures to protect the health, safety and welfare of the facility’s residents,” the notice said.

Tait said the violations are more technical than they appear on paper. “I think things are really quite different than they look in black and white É especially in the last year.” For instance, he said, a recent failure to investigate an abuse complaint was merely a delay caused by Thanksgiving weekend.

“Our staff ratio is better than other facilities,” he said. “I believe the competency of our nursing is better.”

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