Nursing Home Owner Defends Facility Against Abuse Charges

The defiant president of the Clearview Nursing Home in Whitestone lambasted The Daily News on Tuesday for "a grossly unfair" picture of the home he has run for 36 years.
Ernest Dicker, executive director and owner of the Home, told The Queens Courier, in an exclusive interview, that a disgruntled staff member who "has a vendetta against another staffer," wrote a letter to the U.S. Health Care Financing Administrator complaining about abuse committed against the aging residents of the nursing facility.
Dicker said the complainants wife worked for HCFA, the federal agency that supervises the nations nursing homes.
"That brought HCFA to the Home where the agency conducted an investigation," Dicker said. "They found three workers here who allegedly verbally abused patients. They also cited us for not notifying the State Health Department in writing about the actions of the staff members."
Dicker said that there was no physical abuse committed against residents.
Nursing Home Owner Defends Facility Against Abuse Charges
"We have had 100 percent support from the families of residents of Clearview," he said. "I have no plans to abandon this facility I have run for 36 years."
He said that morale now was poor because staff felt the charges were inaccurate and the Home provides quality care.
Diane Gariti, administrator of the 179-bed facility, said "we take pride in the care we provide here."
Dicker said he has fired three staffers charged by HCFA with verbal abuse. He said they were nurses aides.
Mondays front page Daily News story, "Nursing Home Horror," charged that Clearview "residents were physically and verbally abused." It said the information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Law.
HCFA has reportedly imposed a $2,500 a day fine until the Home passes a re-inspection.
The Daily News story acknowledged that residents and their family members "generally expressed satisfaction with the facility and were taken aback by the charges."
Dicker said residents and family members were writing letters to The Daily News complaining about the papers characterization of Clearview.
Whats the next step?
Dicker said he would step up in-service training — a program designed to emphasize staff treatment of residents.
"We do this regularly," he said. "But we will run additional sessions for the staff."
Neil Heyman, president of the Southern New York Nursing Home Association, said that there is very little abuse at nursing homes in New York State. He said that continuing in-service programs to train staff is a must in the nursing home industry.
"Charges of abuse are complicated," he said. "I once visited my grandmother in a nursing home and caught her biting herself on the arm. Someone seeing the bruise could infer it was abuse."
Heyman said that salaries are up at nursing homes, with registered nurses earning from $50,000 to $75,000 a year.
"At one time, salaries were low, but now Local 1199 has entered the picture and things have improved for nursing home staff."