The administrator of a nursing home on the west side of the city has been accused of gross negligence and unprofessional conduct by the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.
State licensing officials contend Michael Charles Laputka, administrator of Rosewood Terrace, failed to hire and train necessary staff; kept inadequate records of patient care; and did not ensure the health and safety of residents, among other things.Laputka is a licensed health facility administrator. The company that owns the nursing home already was fined more than $300,000 for infractions that allegedly contributed to the death of a resident.
Laputka's attorney, Jeff Silvestrini, characterized the allegations as vague.
"We are having some difficulty understanding what they are talking about," Silvestrini said. "What we do understand, we deny and we hope to be vindicated."
In December 1995, four patients were removed from Laputka's facility at the order of Utah Department of Health officials, who found signs of neglect, including bed sores and unexplained weight loss. Allan Elkins, who runs the department's Medicare-Medicaid certification program, said the December visit was prompted by an anonymous complaint.
"Staff treatment of residents equaled neglect in a few cases," Elkins said.
According to the division, which initiated the case against Laputka on the basis of the state Health Department's actions, one of the residents removed from the nursing home died in February. The bed sores "were identified as an underlying cause of death" by the man's physician, according to division records.
Another patient was "severely nutritionally compromised and sustained contractures, burn marks and bruises over his entire body," division records show.
Laputka denies those allegations, according to his attorney.
Federal law requires nursing homes be given time to correct deficiencies.