A Highland Heights, Kentucky Nursing home is the subject of a federal class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a patient who allegedly suffered from neglect and a lack of proper food and medical care. Lawyers for the patients request to have the lawsuit declared a class action for all patients who were residents of the home since 2000.

When state inspectors arrived in February at the Lakeside Heights Nursing Center in Highland Heights for their annual review, it quickly became apparent that the facility was in deep trouble. The state inspectors found many violations, including 12 that "posed immediate jeopardy to the health, welfare and safety of the residents," Kentucky Inspector General Robert Benvenuti III stated.

The inspectors found, among several other problems:

Ten residents in the past year had been placed in what the state termed "immediate jeopardy" because of substandard practices and procedures, or mistakes by staff. Included in that group was one patient who ultimately died in November after the home failed to respond with proper treatment to a health problem with which he was diagnosed.

The facility, whose 286 beds make it the largest in Kentucky, was often critically understaffed. On 24 occasions between Oct. 29 and Feb. 17, for example, one licensed nurse was assigned to the entire facility. At times, the nurse on duty was not trained to administer intravenous fluids, which placed three residents in jeopardy.

Residents often could not receive services or supplies from outside vendors because of bills - one ran into six figures - the nursing home had not paid. The inspectors documented one case in which a patient who frequently choked on solid food could not get to a gastroenterologist for an appointment because the home was indebted to the cab company. Additionally, the local water district threatened to shut off service to the home if it did not make immediate payments on a $40,000 overdue bill.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Lakeside Heights management that if it failed to come up with a plan to correct the problems by March 27, Medicare and Medicaid would cut off funding, stated the branch manager for the Centers' regional office in Atlanta. The nursing home failed to submit a plan, so the Centers notified management that it would cut off funding in 30 days.

The State of Kentucky ordered the 286-bed nursing home in to remove all residents and shut down within 30 days, according to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The lawsuit is open to any persons who were residents of the home since 2000.