Facility for elderly shut down

The Nevada State Bureau of Licensure and Certification has closed a Las Vegas group home for the elderly and disabled because it no longer is considered safe, officials said Monday.

During three surveys of Skyview Group Home 2, at 3820 Golf Lane, bureau surveyors identified violations from narcotics found at the facility to lack of proper care.

Surveyors said they found patients receiving an insufficient amount of food and going without their medications for at least three days.

Some of the facility's caregivers were caught giving medications to patients despite not having proper training, officials said.

The facility's six patients have been relocated. Four of the patients have dementia and require a higher level of care than was being provided at the home, health officials said.

The licensing bureau has summarily suspended the license of Janice Burch, the facilities owner and licensee. Burch is primary owner of the facility under a limited liability corporation.

According to the licensing bureau, the seven-bed facility was inspected on Oct. 16 and Nov. 20. A third inspection was conducted on Dec. 17 following a complaint.

During one of the visits, a surveyor discovered that unqualified caregivers were falsifying medication administration records, the licensing bureau said. When asked why, the caregivers told the surveyor "they were instructed to do so by the administrator."

A caregiver also told the surveyor that Skyview was without heat for two days.

During the investigation, health officials said Burch would not cooperate and refused to provide employee or patient records.

Burch was notified of her license suspension on Dec. 18.

The suspension can be appealed. But such an appeal would not affect closure of the facility, officials said.

A telephone number for the facility was not in service on Monday.

Contact reporter Annette Wells at awells @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.