Feds single out Arlington nursing home as one of the worst in the U.S.
An Arlington nursing home has been named one of the worst in the nation by the federal government, after years of fines and citations for health and safety issues.
Coral Rehabilitation and Nursing of Arlington, 1112 Gibbins Road, was named a “special focus facility” by the federal government. The designation is reserved for just 88 nursing homes across the nation, or 0.5% of all nursing homes. The program is designed for nursing homes with the most serious or prolonged health and safety violations.
The nursing home is owned by Chambers County Public Hospital District No. 1 in southeast Texas. The hospital district did not respond to emails asking for comment for this story.
The federal government has fined the nursing home $156,000 over the past three years, and twice has stopped payments to the nursing home as a penalty.
In August 2024, the nursing home was penalized when federal surveyors found that two residents were leaving the nursing home without signing out and then returning drunk. One of the residents would go out and buy cigarettes and alcohol for other residents, according to the report. The same survey found that one resident, who was paraplegic, was left alone all night while calling out for help. She was “distressed and crying,” according to the federal survey, and “stated that she felt alone and abandoned.” In addition, call lights weren’t working in four out of five halls of the nursing home, according to the survey. The nursing home was fined $45,537 after this inspection.
In November 2024, Coral Rehab was penalized again. A federal surveyor found one resident with multiple open ulcers “draining yellow drainage” on the resident’s legs. The resident said he had had the wounds for two months, but hadn’t received any care for them. During the same inspection, the federal inspector cited the nursing home for failing to prevent the spread of infections after a nurse forgot to change her gloves and wash her hands after cleaning an incontinent resident.
Coral Rehabilitation has 204 certified beds, but usually houses 82 residents per day, according to federal data.
