Queens Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

What the federal data shows in Queens

Every Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing home is inspected and rated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Queens has 56 certified homes with 12,320 beds. Fifteen hold a five-star overall rating; six hold one star.

Fourteen were fined by CMS in roughly the last three years, for a combined $785,046. The largest totals were at Windsor Park Rehab & Nursing Center ($306,240) and Rockaway Care Center ($135,193).

One home carries the CMS abuse icon, which marks a home cited for abuse that harmed a resident in the past year, or for abuse that could have caused harm in each of the last two years: Ocean Gardens Care Center (Arverne).

Pressure injuries are one of the clearest measures of basic care. Across the 56 homes in Queens with a reported rate, the average share of long-stay residents with a pressure ulcer is 6.3 percent, below the New York State average of 6.5 percent and above the national average of 4.5 percent. Twenty-seven of them are above the state average.

Where Queens cases are heard

A nursing home negligence or Public Health Law § 2801-d action for a Queens resident is ordinarily venued in Supreme Court, Queens County, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica. Appeals go to the Appellate Division, Second Department.

When a resident has died, the family must first have a personal representative appointed, usually through Queens County Surrogate’s Court, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica. Only the appointed administrator or executor can bring the wrongful death and survival claims. We handle the limited letters of administration as part of the case.

Our New York City office is at 14 Penn Plaza in Manhattan, and our main office is in Huntington. We meet Queens families at home, at the bedside or at either office.

Deadlines that apply

• Public Health Law § 2801-d and negligence claims: generally three years from the injury (CPLR 214).
• Claims framed as medical malpractice: generally two years and six months (CPLR 214-a).
• Wrongful death: two years from the date of death (EPTL 5-4.1).
• The NYS Veterans Home in NYC is operated by New York State. Claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims, and a claim or notice of intention must generally be served within 90 days (Court of Claims Act § 10).

These periods can be shortened or extended by the facts. Call early; the records a home keeps, such as staffing sheets and video, are easier to preserve before they are lost.

How to report a problem in a Queens nursing home

• In an emergency, call 911. The NYPD responds to crimes inside nursing homes.
• File a complaint with the New York State Department of Health, Centralized Complaint Intake: 1-888-201-4563, or online at health.ny.gov.
• Contact the New York State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (ltcombudsman.ny.gov).
• Ask the home in writing for the incident report, the care plan and the medical record. You are entitled to the record under Public Health Law § 18.