Legal Action Filed Against National Nursing Home Chain that Abuses Residents

Far too many nursing homes fail to keep their promise to provide quality care for their residents. With 300 Golden Living Centers nationwide, Golden Gate National Senior Care LLC is one such nursing home company that has failed to provide basic services to their vulnerable, older adult residents. Last Wednesday, authorities in Pennsylvania filed a legal action against the company, saying that Golden Living Center residents were left in soiled diapers for unacceptably long periods of time, were at high risk for bedsores, and were not bathed routinely. Residents were also not escorted to meals as required, often missing meals entirely, and staff have been proven to falsify records.

The legal action has been filed in Commonwealth Court as a complaint in equity and petition for permanent injunction, asserting that Golden Living breached the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law by misleading consumers through its marketing methods.

Instead of maintaining the comfort and cleanliness of its residents, as well as providing food and water at any time like the company advertised, Golden Living facilities were understaffed, putting residents at extreme risk of thirst, hunger, uncleanliness, and unable to receive help for basic activities of daily living, such as going to the bathroom.
The company not only manipulated its most vulnerable to make a profit, interviews with family members of residents and past Golden Living facility certified nursing assistants disclosed a pattern of understaffing and negligence across the board.
Allegations included:

  • Continent residents forced to wear diapers because assistance to use the bathroom was unavailable.
  • Incontinent residents left for long periods of time in their soiled diapers.
  • Residents prone to bedsores due to not being turned every two hours as required.
  • Residents forced to wake at 5 a.m. or earlier to be washed and dressed for the day.
  • Residents not being dressed in a timely matter to attend their meals.
  • Residents not being escorted to the dining area and sometimes unintentionally skipping meals entirely.
  • Having to wait extended periods of time for responses to call bells or not receiving a response at all. Staff, under management orders or fear of management, falsifying records that indicate residents were attended to when in fact they were not.
  • Staff improvements after state inspections occurred, leading to mislead the facility’s true conditions.

Not surprisingly, Golden Living’s president and CEO has defended his company, calling the claims baseless and “wholly without merit.”

The legal action calls for permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Golden Living from practicing deceptive and unlawful business practices that it is being accused of. It also seeks $1,000 for every violation of the law, or up to $3,000 for every violation involving an individual 60 years or older. Compensation is also sought for consumers, injunctive relief and litigation expenses.

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