UPDATE 12:30 P.M. THURSDAY — A Chapel Hill nursing home is conducting an internal investigation in response to residents testing positive for opiate drugs they were not prescribed.
The nursing home was inspected Thursday morning by state regulators, according to a statement from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
At 8 a.m., the Division of Health Service Regulation sent a team of three people, including two pharmacists, to inspect Britthaven of Chapel Hill and gather information about the presence of opiates in the systems of residents in the Alzheimer's care unit. The division is working to prepare a report.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services received reports from both UNC Hospitals and Britthaven, the nursing home at 1716 Legion Road, about the over-medication.
Chapel Hill police met with Britthaven officials Wednesday and concluded that they would not conduct an investigation unless criminal activity is revealed in a health department investigation.
“We don’t see anything yet that is criminal in nature,” Assistant Police Chief Bob Overton said.
The state division that regulates nursing homes generally investigates all complaints, but it has a policy not to announce the start of an investigation, health department spokesman Jim Jones said.
Britthaven called regulators Tuesday morning to report the overmedication, according to a statement from Jeff Horton, acting director of the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation.
Britthaven was busy with the investigation Wednesday and did not return multiple requests for an interview. Jones said an internal investigation after a nursing home complaint is standard.
“In any facility, if something happens out of the ordinary that’s out of the welfare of their residents, it’s prudent for them to conduct an investigation,” Jones said.
The nursing home, which has 140 beds, was designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before this incident as having a history of persistent poor quality of care and ranked with one out of five stars.
An October 2008 inspection found that the facility failed to protect some residents from abuse. Also, the home failed to make sure it was free of dangers that could cause accidents, reports state.
The statement from nursing home regulators says they have been in contact with local law enforcement, county Adult Protective Services and management at Britthaven.
It is not yet clear how many patients were involved, Horton said. Some went to UNC Hospitals, he said.
UNC Hospitals could not provide additional information about the event because of patient confidentiality laws, spokesman Tom Hughes said.
The nursing home’s parent company, Britthaven Inc., has more than 40 locations across the state.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
