Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is a skilled nursing facility in Albuquerque that is chronically understaffed and plagued with health violations. If your loved one has experienced nursing home abuse at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Levin & Perconti can help you hold this facility accountable.
Nursing home abuse and neglect is an egregious form of medical malpractice that is shockingly prevalent. According to the World Health Organization, two out of three nursing home staff surveyed admitted to abusing residents in the last year.
Your loved one has the right to live in a safe, comfortable environment and receive quality care. Even one violation of these rights is inexcusable. If your loved one has experienced abuse, neglect, or low quality of care at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, an Albuquerque nursing home abuse lawyer at Levin & Perconti can help you get justice.
About Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is a 120-bed skilled nursing facility and one of approximately 250 such facilities owned by Genesis Healthcare and its subsidiaries. Genesis Healthcare is headquartered in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Skies Healthcare is located at the following address:
9150 McMahon Boulevard NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87114
(505) 898-7986
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center accepts Medicare, Medicaid, VA, and private insurance. It offers the following services:
- Short-term care
- Long-term care
- Respite care
- Palliative care
- Rehabilitation
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapies
- Pet therapy
- Hospice care
- Cultural, educational, religious, and social activities
This facility won a Gold Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living in 2015, but Skies Healthcare’s performance during at least the last three years does not reflect the quality of care of such an award winner.
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center has had 23 lawsuits filed against it, and according to NursingHomeDatabase.com, this facility has been fined $183,014 in recent years. The database, which compiles and interprets data from CMS, ranks Skies Healthcare 14th out of 19 facilities within a 10-mile radius and 16th of 21 within a 25-mile radius.
The facility’s Google rating is 3.4 out of five stars, and Medicare’s overall rating of Skies Healthcare is a “much below average” one-star rating out of a possible five.
Safety Concerns at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
Medicare has not flagged Skies Healthcare as a facility with heightened abuse risks or a history of abuse. However, this facility’s recent deficiencies and staff shortages indicate that neglect and abuse may occur at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
Staff Shortages at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
According to Medicare, Skies Healthcare is chronically understaffed with a high turnover rate. Understaffing at nursing homes is linked to a higher risk of nursing home abuse and neglect.
According to Medicare, patients at Skies Healthcare receive fewer hours of care compared with average hours of care across New Mexico and the United States. As a result, Medicare has given Skies Healthcare a two-star rating for staffing.
According to Medicare’s data:
- Total nurse staff hours per resident per day:
- Skies Healthcare: 3 hours and 23 minutes
- National average: 3 hours and 46 minutes
- Statewide average: 3 hours and 37 minutes
- Registered nurse hours per resident per day:
- Skies Healthcare: 30 minutes
- National average: 40 minutes
- State average: 40 minutes
- Licensed practical nurse hours per resident per day:
- Skies Healthcare: 45 minutes
- National average: 53 minutes
- State average: 40 minutes
- Weekend total nursing staff hours per resident per day:
- Skies Healthcare: 2 hours and 52 minutes
- National average: 3 hours and 15 minutes
- State average: 3 hours and 8 minutes
- Physical therapists per resident per day:
- Skies Healthcare: 1 minute
- National average: 4 minutes
- State average: 5 minutes
Skies Healthcare also has a 71.4 percent staff turnover rate, compared with 53.5 percent nationally and 61 percent statewide. A high turnover rate indicates that employees may be overworked, stressed, and poorly trained. This translates to a higher risk of neglect and abuse and a lower quality of care.
Health Violations
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center has received 25 health citations during the last 12 months, compared with a national average of 8.4 and a state average of 15.5. Fourteen complaints in the last year have resulted in citations.
Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center’s violations include the following as a result of the most recent health inspection on April 7, 2022:
- Losing a patient’s clothes so the patient was left to wear only underwear
- Failure to maintain a safe medication administration process and label feeding tubes
- Failure to provide assistance with oral hygiene
- Failure to change oxygen tubing
- Forcing a patient to wait nine days for anti-seizure medication and pain medication for nerve damage due to unavailability of the medication within the facility
- Administering the incorrect dose of medication due to a confusing label
- Giving a diuretic in the evening
- Administering a medication not prescribed to a patient and likely contributing to her death
- Failing to administer a prescribed antibiotic likely contributing to worsened infection
- Using expired medication including an expired flu vaccine
Quality of Care Deficiencies at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
Medicare has rated Skies Healthcare as average, or three stars, in quality of care for both short-stay and long-term patients.
Short-Stay Areas of Concern
Areas of concern for short-stay patients include the following:
- 16.3 percent of Skies Healthcare patients have had an outpatient emergency room visit compared with 11.4 percent nationally.
- The percentage of short-stay patients with an improved ability to move around on their own is a dismal 13.4 percent compared with the national average of 74.1 percent and state average of 66.5 percent
Long-Stay Areas of Concern
Medicare’s findings show that long-stay patients experienced a higher-than-average occurrence of pressure ulcers. This indicates nursing staff is failing to frequently change immobile patients’ positions in order to prevent bedsores.
This facility has a significantly higher rate of worsened patient ability to move independently and perform activities of daily living without assistance. As many as 36.5 percent of patients experienced a worsened ability to move, and 24.4 percent experienced a decreased ability to perform daily self-care activities.
Nationally, 17.2 percent of patients experience worsened mobility, and 14.7 experience a decreased ability to perform daily care activities. State averages are similar to national averages.
Medicare has also found that patients at Skies Healthcare experience higher rates of depression, at 9.6 percent, compared with a 3.3 percent state average.
What to Do if You Suspect Abuse at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
If you suspect your loved one is experiencing abuse or neglect at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, call the New Mexico Health Facility Complaints Hotline at (800) 752-8649. The health care facility will be required to investigate and report the findings to the Division of Health Improvement within five days.
Every state is required to provide the public with access to a long-term care ombudsman. This is a patient advocate who can help you protect your loved one’s rights. You can report abuse and neglect to a New Mexico long-term care ombudsman by calling (866) 451-2901.
If an injury occurs, you should also contact a nursing home abuse lawyer about your Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center nursing home abuse concern. An experienced nursing home attorney can connect you to important resources to protect your loved one and help you hold the nursing home accountable.
The Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers at Levin & Perconti Will Fight For You
The attorneys at Levin & Perconti are passionate about fighting for the right of every nursing home patient to receive quality care and live in a safe, comfortable environment. We have devoted the last 30 years to standing up to nursing homes that neglect and abuse some of the most vulnerable people in society.
Our attorneys are nationally recognized with prestigious designations including Best Lawyers in America, Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, and Leading Lawyers’ Top 10 Lawyer in the area of Nursing Home Negligence. We treat every client with compassion and keep clients informed of developments in their cases.
With more than 200 years of combined experience, our dedicated attorneys fight vigorously to win our clients the highest level of compensation–possible available by law. Our passion for our clients is reflected in our successful nursing home case results, which include the following:
- $2.7 million verdict for the family of a man who died from complications related to a fall at a nursing home
- $2.3 million settlement for the family of an 88-year-old assisted living resident who developed severe bed sores that ultimately caused her death
- $1.5 million settlement for an 87-year-old nursing home resident who suffered severe burns after being placed in a scalding sitz bath
If your loved one has been harmed at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, you may have grounds to file a nursing home abuse lawsuit against the facility. Contact Levin & Perconti today for a free consultation.
Legally Reviewed by
Steven M. Levin
Contact Us
- Free Consultation
- (312) 332-2872
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Notable Results
VERDICT
on behalf of an 85-year-old woman injured in a nursing home when her medications were mismanaged.
VERDICT
for the estate of a 67-year-old man who died from complications related to a fall
SETTLEMENT
for a 59-year-old resident who developed multiple painful and infected bedsores which took four years to heal.
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