Helena, MontanaHelena Nursing Home Abuse
Helena Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers: Nursing Home Neglect, Bedsores, Falls and Assisted Living Injuries in Lewis and Clark County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a loved one was neglected or abused in a Helena nursing home or assisted living facility, report it first. Adult Protective Services and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman are run from Helena. A claim against a licensed nursing home generally must be filed within 2 years and usually goes to the Montana Medical Legal Panel first.
Key Takeaways
- If someone is in danger, call 911. Otherwise call Adult Protective Services at 1-844-277-9300 or the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman at (800) 332-2272 (DPHHS).
- Claims against a licensed nursing home generally must be filed within 2 years (§ 27-2-205, MCA) and usually must go to the Medical Legal Panel first. Assisted living facilities are excluded from the panel (§ 27-6-103, MCA).
- A nursing home cannot require an arbitration agreement as a condition of admission (42 C.F.R. § 483.70).
Worried about a loved one’s care in a Helena facility? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
What should Helena families know about local long-term care?
Helena is where Montana regulates long-term care. The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) is headquartered in Helena. Its programs include Adult Protective Services, the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman and the licensing and inspection of health care facilities. For Helena families, that proximity can help: reports go to agencies based in the same city, and inspection findings for Helena facilities are generated close to home.
The Helena area has a mix of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living and memory care communities, and in-home care. The difference between them matters legally:
- Skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes) that take Medicare or Medicaid must meet federal standards, including keeping residents free from abuse and neglect and reporting suspected abuse or serious injury within 2 hours (42 C.F.R. § 483.12). Claims against them are treated as health care claims: generally 2 years, and the Medical Legal Panel first.
- Assisted living and memory care are excluded from the Medical Legal Panel (§ 27-6-103, MCA). Different deadlines and procedures may apply, and an assisted living resident’s family should get advice early about which rules govern.
- Hospital-to-facility transfers. Many Helena residents move to a nursing home after a stay at St. Peter’s Health or the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center. The discharge and admission records matter when a resident arrives with, or quickly develops, pressure injuries, dehydration or medication errors.
Before choosing or evaluating a facility, families can look up any Medicare- or Medicaid-certified nursing home on Medicare’s Care Compare, which publishes inspection results, staffing information and penalties. A pattern of citations for the same problem can matter in a later case.
Helena winters add their own risks. Residents who are left to walk unassisted, take themselves outside, or go without the monitoring their care plan requires face slips, falls and cold exposure. Facilities are expected to plan for those risks.
What happens after nursing home abuse or neglect in Helena?
- Make the resident safe. Call 911 for an emergency. Serious injuries are usually treated at St. Peter’s Health, a DPHHS-designated State Area Trauma Hospital.
- Report it. Call Adult Protective Services (1-844-277-9300) and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman ((800) 332-2272). Reports about residents of long-term care facilities go to the ombudsman and DPHHS under Montana’s Vulnerable Adult Prevention of Abuse Act (§ 52-3-811, MCA). Criminal conduct should also be reported to the Helena Police Department or the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
- Document. Photograph injuries and bedsores with dates, keep notes of conversations and staff names, and request the resident’s chart, care plan and incident reports.
- Don’t sign a new arbitration agreement, or any release, without advice.
- Watch the deadlines. The 2-year period is short, and the panel application takes preparation.
Where the case goes. For a licensed nursing home, the case begins with an application to the Montana Medical Legal Panel at its office at 2021 Eleventh Avenue in Helena. Then a lawsuit may be filed in the First Judicial District Court at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse, 228 Broadway (§ 3-5-101(1), MCA). Many nursing homes are owned by out-of-state chains. Those defendants may remove a case to the U.S. District Court’s Helena Division at the Paul G. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, 901 Front Street.
Montana law that applies
Briefly: the federal nursing-home standards apply to certified facilities (42 C.F.R. part 483). Montana’s malpractice deadline and panel generally apply to licensed nursing facilities, but not to assisted living (§§ 27-2-205, 27-6-103, MCA). When neglect causes a death, the family may bring wrongful death and survival claims (§ 27-1-513, MCA). For warning signs, types of neglect and the elder-abuse statute, see our Montana nursing home abuse lawyer page.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Helena case?
Nursing home cases are records cases, often against corporate owners with national defense firms, and they need a trial lawyer’s preparation from the start. We are based in Great Falls, handle cases across Montana, and come to Helena to meet families, visit facilities, take depositions and try cases. If you are managing a parent’s care from out of town, we keep you informed by phone and video between visits.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We try cases. Our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We know federal court. Chain-owned facilities often remove cases. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
- We handle wrongful death cases. We resolved Estate of Alexander v. Cascade County, a civil-rights and wrongful-death case, for $550,000 (case summary).
- You work with the lawyers, not a case manager.
We also handle medical malpractice in Helena, wrongful death cases in Helena and other Helena personal injury cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do I call to report abuse in a Helena nursing home? Call 911 for an emergency. Otherwise call Adult Protective Services at 1-844-277-9300 and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman at (800) 332-2272. Report crimes to the Helena Police Department or the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff.
How can I check a Helena nursing home’s inspection history? Medicare’s Care Compare lists inspection results, staffing and penalties for every certified nursing home. Ask us to pull the full inspection reports if you are considering a claim.
My mother was in assisted living, not a nursing home. Is the process different? Yes. Assisted living facilities are excluded from the Medical Legal Panel (§ 27-6-103, MCA), and different deadlines may apply. Get advice early.
The admission papers included an arbitration agreement. Am I stuck with it? Not necessarily. A certified nursing home cannot require arbitration as a condition of admission (42 C.F.R. § 483.70). Whether an agreement is enforceable depends on how it was presented and signed.
How long do we have to bring a claim? Generally 2 years for a claim against a licensed nursing home (§ 27-2-205, MCA), with the Medical Legal Panel first. Don’t wait. The records and witnesses matter most early.
Talk to a Helena Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Sources: DPHHS Long-Term Care Ombudsman · 42 C.F.R. § 483.12 · 42 C.F.R. § 483.70 · § 27-2-205, MCA · § 27-6-103, MCA · § 52-3-811, MCA · § 27-1-513, MCA · § 3-5-101, MCA · Montana Medical Legal Panel
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
