Paper: $600,000 fine imposed on nursing home after outbreak

TRENTON, N.J. – A newspaper reports that federal authorities have imposed a $600,000 fine on a New Jersey nursing home following a viral outbreak that killed 11 children.

The North Jersey Record reports that the penalty stems from state and federal inspections at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation during last fall’s outbreak.

The inspections cited conditions posing “immediate jeopardy” to children dependent on ventilators and other pediatric and elderly residents. A letter from Lauren Reinertsen of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the convictions existed from Oct. 9 to Nov. 16. Officials said the centre is now in compliance, although it can’t admit pediatric ventilator patients pending state approval of an infection-control plan.

The centre strongly disputes a federal report on the outbreak and is appealing.

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Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com