Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center

Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is a nursing facility associated with Genesis Healthcare in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It offers short-term rehabilitation and long-term care, and it won a Gold Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living in 2015.

However, the standard of care in this nursing home has dropped in the last few years. Because of its issues, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) monitored Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center between August 2022 and July 2023. Its primary issues have been understaffing and health standards, which have caused discomfort, injury, and pain to its residents. 

If you or a person you care about have been injured in this facility, you can take legal action, seek compensation, and pursue justice. Contact us today for a free consultation with our New Mexico nursing home abuse lawyers.

Quick Overview

• Facility Name: Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
• Address: 9150 McMahon NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114
• CMS Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 stars – Much Below Average
• CMS Health Inspection Rating: 1 out of 5 stars 
• CMS Staffing Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
• CMS Quality Measures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 
• Federal Fines in Last 3 Years: 5 fines totaling $328,872
• Payment Denials by Medicare in the Last 3 Years: 1 denial
• Consumer Alert (if applicable): Special Focus Facility Candidate
• Total Bed Capacity: 120
• Ownership Type: For Profit, LLC

Facility Overview

Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center provides short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, respite services, and hospice care. It accepts Medicare and Medicaid and is VA-contracted. It’s the only Tier 4 facility in the state and is not part of a continuing care retirement community. 

The center offers a variety of room options to accommodate its residents, including Private Rooms, Semi-Private Rooms, and Guest Rooms.

Despite the facility’s former service standard, inspections show 76 total deficiencies and three infection-related deficiencies in the nursing home. The most severe case happened in 2022 when a medication- and healthcare-related deficiency contributed to a resident’s death.

CMS Ratings and Performance

CMS stands for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It ranks each nursing home using a 5-star rating system based on three categories: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures.

Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center has a 1-star overall rating from the CMS, which means it ranks much below average overall. Its key issue is that it’s short-staffed, and the rating confirms it with 1 out of 5 stars. 

Over the past three years, this facility has been penalized with five federal fines totaling $328,872 and has faced one Medicare payment denial, reinforcing its consistently low rating.

Staffing: In this rehabilitation center, each resident gets only about 20 minutes per day with a Registered Nurse, almost half of the state average of 38 minutes. They also receive fewer nurse staff hours per day on the weekend (2 hours and 46 minutes), while the typical New Mexican gets 3 hours and 2 minutes.

What’s also disconcerting is the nurse turnover, which is higher for all nursing staff (64% vs. NM 55.4% average), and the RN turnover of 75% (compared to NM average of 57.6%). This high turnover rate can impact the quality of care, leaving employees less time to attend to each resident despite their best efforts to treat everyone with dignity.

Health Inspections: Skies Healthcare received 1 out of 5 stars from CMS, which is not surprising given that it has 27 health citations as opposed to the state average of 16. In the last three years, 22 complaints resulted in a citation, with three infection control inspections.

The last report included six deficiencies in quality of life and care, four deficiencies in resident rights, seven deficiencies in nutrition and diet, two deficiencies in pharmacy services, and three deficiencies in the environment. 

Quality Measures: This is the only redeeming rating the home has, with a rating of 4 out of 5 stars or above average. While it doesn’t score better across all criteria in this category, it does outperform the typical home in some clinical data measures.

Notably, 4.2% of short-stay residents in Skies Healthcare were re-hospitalized after a nursing home admission, compared to 19.3% in the state overall.

Services Provided

The facility has a wide range of services, offering short-term stay, long-term stay, medical treatment, and respite services. Its range makes the decline in quality even more saddening, as many people rely on having diverse treatment options in one facility. Here are the types of support the nursing home offers: 

• Respite Care
• Palliative Care
• Hospice Care
• Rehabilitation Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Orthopedic Rehabilitation
• Respiratory Care
• Wound Care
• Speech Therapy
• Cultural, Educational, Religious, Recreation, and Social activities
• Psychiatric Services
• Occupational Therapy
• Pet Therapy

Violations and Citations

Nursing homes are crucial in caring for our elderly and ill family members, providing the essential support they need. To ensure they’re receiving satisfactory care, we must examine the citations a nursing home has received. 

Specific Violations

Several violations have been reported at the nursing home, affecting the residents in minor and more severe ways. Here are some common issues noticed in this nursing home. 

Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies: The home failed to hire enough staff to care for all residents properly. In one report, it also failed to ensure that residents met their doctors face-to-face at all required visits.

Nutrition and Dietary Deficiencies: Plenty of nutrition-related violations have been reported. The facility failed to meet each resident’s dietary needs. Its menus failed in other respects, too, including the time and convenience of serving, preparing, and sourcing food according to professional standards.

Environmental Deficiencies: More than one report mentions issues related to the nursing home environment, including failures in pest control, hygiene, equipment, and working call systems.

Resident Rights Deficiencies: These include honoring the resident’s right to be treated with respect and dignity, to retain and use personal possessions, to support their choices, and to respect their preferences. In one case, the home failed to immediately tell the resident, the resident’s doctor, and a family member of situations that affected the resident, likely contributing to their death.

Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies: The nursing home had 15 citations in this group, such as failing to help patients perform activities of daily living, failing to accommodate patients with mobility issues, and failing to provide appropriate respiratory care. 

Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies: Citations mention inappropriate use of physical restraints, improper response to alleged violations, and failure to protect patients from abuse, neglect, and physical punishment.

Pharmacy Service Deficiency: Medication errors, including poor labeling, safe storage, and giving medications to the wrong patient. A medication error was the reason for the one death at the facility. 

Impact on Residents

The impact of nursing home abuse and neglect can be devastating, affecting the residents’ physical health, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life.

Health and Safety Concerns

With a lower-than-average number of hours per resident, the nursing staff is stretched and overworked, which may cause burnout and poor attention. Also, neglect and unsanitary conditions can exacerbate existing conditions, cause new issues, and lead to falls and accidents.

Emotional and Psychological Impact

Understaffing reduces the quality of assistance, making patients feel unsupported, isolated, anxious, or uncomfortable. The emotional impacts range from anxiety to feelings of isolation, vulnerability, and helplessness. Neglect can also speed up cognitive decline and impact a resident’s overall health.

Case Examples

A complaint report from June 7, 2023, which resulted in citations and a $11,638 fine, found the nursing home failed to manage a patient’s pain appropriately after a fall, causing him severe pain and emotional distress. Another report shows the facility failed to ensure all residents received behavioral care, which has the potential to make existing mental issues worse. 

Legal Rights and Actions

Residents are protected by federal and state laws that guarantee their right to adequate care, dignity, and freedom from abuse. These laws include the Nursing Home Reform Act, which mandates high-quality care and protects residents from neglect and abuse. State laws often provide additional safeguards to ensure these rights are upheld.

Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center is mandated to provide each resident with medical attention and a safe environment and treat them with compassion according to their needs and preferences. If the nursing home fails to fulfill its duty, you have the right to seek justice and compensation for what you or your family member went through. 

If your loved one has been abused, you can file negligence lawsuits or abuse claims to compensate them for the trauma they experienced. If you need help to get started, contact us today for a free consultation. Our team of specialized lawyers will help you understand your case, your legal options, and your chance for compensation.