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Oklahoma Nursing Home Shocks Inspectors

May 5, 2005
Oklahoma Health Department inspectors say they found a shocking situation when they arrived at the Nobel Residential Care Home, along with more cockroaches than they could count. As a result, the residents of the nursing home were ordered evacuated to cleaner quarters.

Department officials say an on-site monitoring visit determined that an emergency existed requiring immediate action to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the home based on widespread infestation of rodents and insects.

Inspectors say they found rodent droppings, urine-soaked kitchen plates and insects crawling all over residents' clothing and bedding.

Noble Residential Care Home housed 34 residents. A separate, unlicensed building housed eight additional residents. An interagency relocation team from the OSDH, Department of Human Services, and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services coordinated the relocation of the residents, working with the residents, their families and guardians to find new homes and make the transition as smooth as possible.

James Joslin, assistant chief of Long Term Care Services at the OSDH, reported all residents were out of the building within 24 hours.

"It is a credit to the assisting agencies as well as the receiving facilities that we were able to get these people moved so quickly. We regret the sudden disruption to the residents' lives but the living conditions in this facility fell well below the standards we expect of a licensed residential care home," Joslin stated.

The facility has ten days to request a hearing on the decision to relocate the residents.

"We take our responsibility to protect the residents of these facilities very seriously and we will continue our inspections to ensure the residents are receiving quality care and the operators are meeting state regulations. The residents continue to be our primary concern," said State Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Crutcher.

The action included notice to the facility of the Department's plans to file a petition to not renew the facility's license.

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