Metro Family Files Complaint Against OKC Nursing Home

A metro family claims room temperatures at an Oklahoma City nursing home recently got into the high 80's.

A formal complaint was filed and now the Oklahoma State Department of Health is investigating.

The complaint is against The Lakes nursing home near Britton Road and MacArthur Boulevard.

According to the complaint, temperatures inside some residents' rooms were as high as 88 degrees during the day.

It said for a whole week, from June 19 to June 26, temperatures ranged as high as 85 to 88 degrees after the air conditioning went out.

Room temperatures are not supposed to go over 81 degrees by law.

“This is a danger,” said Wes Bledsoe with A Perfect Cause. “This is an immediate threat, this is immediate jeopardy for the people in those rooms,” he added.

A Perfect Cause is an advocacy group for nursing home reform.

Bledsoe filed The Lakes complaint on behalf of the elderly residents.

“Their skin is thinner, they're not able to dissipate heat as well, many of them are on a lot of different medications that can be sensitive to this kind of temperature range,” Bledsoe told News 9.

The complaint also stated the facility told family members to buy their own fans for the residents until the air conditioner could be fixed.

“My concern is, what about those residents who don't have family members, or those residents whose family members live out of town or out of state,” Bledsoe explained.

The Lakes nursing home administrator confirmed that one of three air conditioning units went out, but not for an entire week as stated in the complaint.

She said it broke on Wednesday and was fully fixed on Friday.

She also said the facility brought in fans for residents in the meantime and that temperatures never got above 79.

Bledsoe disputed that and said he is eager to see the results of the state health department's investigation.

“These people need to be in a safe environment, these excessive temperatures and lack of proper air conditioning - it's not safe,” Bledsoe said.

The state department of health went out to investigate the nursing home on Monday and checked room temperatures.

The OSDH said the complaint is still under investigation.