The meeting was his second since early last month, when he held a town hall meeting with an audience of more than 200 focusing on recent allegations of sexual abuse of residents at Castle Manor by a nursing home aide at the home. According to family members, it took days for the nursing home to file the sexual abuse claims with the Department of Health, and the accused abuser continued to work at the home for weeks after the initial complaint was made.

Concerned family members of one of the victims contacted Bledsoe, founder of the victims watchdog group A Perfect Cause, who has received much publicity for his efforts to fight elder care in nursing homes. He traveled to Hot Springs to conduct a town hall meeting last month and returned last week after receiving dozens of calls from family members of victims wanting advice on how to best seek justice.

One audience member last week asked Bledsoe if he planned to contact Castle Manor administration, which Bledsoe was quoted in the Rapid City Journal as replying, “I don’t make a practice to meet with administrators. By the time I am called, the time for talking is past, and it is time to take action.”

Bledsoe said he had talked with the Fall River County State’s Attorney about the case, but did not disclose the details of that conversation. But he urged those in the audience to join his fight. “Call your state and national representatives and senators,” Bledsoe was quoted in the newspaper. “We can address many things through advocacy, but I need more help.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Eldercare advocate rallies family members to fight for better care

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Two daughters of one of the victims, Sharon Deboer and Gwendolyn Ketterer, say they became suspicious when their mother, who suffers from dementia, began acting unusual last year. In January, one of the sisters was contacted by another employee at the home, who told her that a male nursing assistant had been sexually molesting her mother. The sisters say they received no further notification from the nursing home about the incident even though a complaint had been filed with the Department of Health three days earlier. Worst of all, the man suspected of the assault continued to work at the home for weeks after the initial complaint was made. The sisters began to feel the home was trying to cover up the wrong-doing.

“It was just, everything changed. The whole atmosphere of the place changed that’s why we felt that and when my sister went to talk to an authority up there, everything was denied,” Ketterer told the newspaper.

Castle Manor Board President Rich Nelson says he has received other “minor” complaints and is aware of the three victims’ complaints. He says the nursing home took action and fired the nursing assistant following an investigation into the incident.

Castle Manor, which is operated by Fall River Health Services, is the only long-term care facility in Fall River County.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home fires CNA weeks after allegation of sexual assault

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