bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632
CHAPEL HILL -- The State Bureau of Investigation has started an investigation into the Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home after UNC Hospitals alerted local and state officials that several patients it has received from Britthaven appeared to have been overly medicated.
The Chapel Hill Police Department, which originally received a call on Tuesday from UNC Hospitals alerting them to the possibility of a problem, did not begin an official criminal investigation, but they did collect some information about the incident and met with various people about the situation at Britthaven.
Assistant Chief Bob Overton then met with SBI officials Thursday and after discussing it with them, the SBI decided to open an investigation, according to Chapel Hill police Lt. Kevin Gunter.
They agreed that because of the complexity of the case and the SBI's ability to conduct its own testing, that it would be the best agency to conduct the investigation, Gunter said.
Reports indicate that some patients in Britthaven's Alzheimer's unit tested positive for opiates even though they had not been prescribed any type of medicine that contained an opiate.
Britthaven of Chapel Hill has been under investigation before after residents died there. In 2002, 78-year-old Lois M. Edwards died after her neck was caught between the side rail and mattress.
A state investigation showed that the faculty staff failed to follow policy and procedure for providing emergency services. The investigation showed that two of six aides in the facility had not received even minimum training.
The aides did not know they were supposed to issue a Code Blue alert to call others to the room to help, and no one attempted resuscitation efforts until 15 minutes after Edwards was found.
In 1997, federal regulators fined Britthaven of Chapel Hill $510,000 after Martha Harris of Durham was found dead in her room. The Alzheimer's patient had been strangled by restraint straps.
According to its Web site, www.britthaven.com, the Chapel Hill nursing home's parent company, Britthaven Inc., operates nursing homes in three states, 43 in North Carolina, two in Virginia and seven in Kentucky.
