Heat Wave Endured on Residents of Troubled New Jersey Nursing Home with Little to No Air Conditioning
A poorly maintained heating and cooling system at Homestead Rehabilitation and Care Center in Newton, New Jersey, has twice threatened to expose fragile residents to an uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous, bout of nursing home malpractice.
A June heat wave and a faulty air conditioning system in a New Jersey nursing home forced dozens of elderly long-term residents—including some with medical challenges and/or memory loss—out of overheated rooms in the facility, an NJ Spotlight News article reports. When temperatures soared well into the 90s earlier this summer, Homestead Rehabilitation and Care Center in Newton, New Jersey, struggled to keep indoor temperatures within safe limits and to avoid subjecting residents to a dangerous circumstance of nursing home malpractice.
“Summer heat waves are foreseeable,” said Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, leader of the state’s Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. “No nursing home should be operating with systems that cannot handle them.”
According to NJ Spotlight News, while upgrades were made to Homestead’s heating and cooling system on the building’s fourth floor—typically used for short-term residents undergoing rehabilitation after hospital stays—no similar upgrades were made for the lower floors where long-term residents live. Per the article, window-unit air conditioners were added to these floors only when the heat wave had gone on for days.
The article reported that Homestead residents have been subjected to similar issues of nursing home malpractice in the past. In December 2022, the furnace went out, and while outside temperatures plummeted into the teens, residents were told to remain in bed under the covers while wearing coats, hats and gloves. Nearly 24 hours passed before heat was restored.
“We are concerned that substandard infrastructure is an ongoing issue with this facility,” said Facciarossa Brewer of the persistent nursing home malpractice problems. “Residents have experienced issues with breakdowns related to heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, and yet we see no evidence that the management and ownership have committed to a long-term fix for the problems.”
Beyond difficulties with the heating and cooling system, Homestead also struggles with water pressure issues, which impacts residents’ ability to bathe and flush toilets. The water is furthermore frequently of questionable chlorination. While bottled water has been provided to address nursing home malpractice issues related to unsafe drinking water, it is uncertain what accommodations have been made for resident teeth-brushing.
Compounding the aforementioned nursing home malpractice problems, Homestead has also been recently fined by the state Health Department for multiple staffing violations between 2021 and 2023, which, said inspectors, potentially put residents at risk for “more than minimal harm.”
According to the article, Homestead is owned by 10 entities, a mix of limited liability corporations, and several individuals, including Benjamin Landa, a New York resident who has been charged with multiple abuse, neglect and other violations amounting to nursing home malpractice related to the New York nursing homes he operates.
Fighting Against, Substandard Care, Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death
Attorney Brian P. Murphy strives to uphold the safety and rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey nursing home residents, safeguarding them from nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home should not have to be concerned about the quality of the facility in which he or she resides, or about being subjected to any dangerous circumstance arising from nursing home malpractice. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy holds accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for any sort of negligence and abuse. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.
