Hidden video surveillance

The indictments follow the guilty plea of a third nursing aide, Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle. Van Winkle was sentenced to 12 months in jail but will serve two years probation for agreeing to testify against other cases of criminal conduct at the nursing home.

Family members of Madison Manor resident Armeda Thomas became suspicious about her care and placed a hidden video camera in her room. The videotape showed a total of nine nursing assistants physically abusing the woman and failing to clean or feed her. Thomas’ family members moved her out of the home, and she later died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Extendicare, the Wisconsin-based company that owns Madison Manor, fired the nine nursing assistants, made staff changes, and set up a retraining program for staff as a result of the videotape. “We do not condone this kind of behavior,” said a spokesperson for Extendicare.

Hidden video surveillance has led to convictions of numerous nursing home residents since the practice has been approved in select states. New York has used the practice throughout the state, which has led to the conviction of more than 25 nursing home employees.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Hidden cameras lead to nursing home abuse charges

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According to police reports, a Hillcrest employee found Shaw sitting on the woman’s bed last month with blood on his face and hands. She was menstruating at the time of the alleged attack. Shaw had his shirt off and sweat pants down to his knees but his boxer shorts were on.

A warrant was issued for Shaw’s arrest, and two psychiatrists who interviewed Shaw testified he understood the charge and thus, Shaw was found competent to stand trial. However, the public defender representing Shaw said the ruling was surprising. “I am still trying to grasp, as a layman, how a psychotic is competent to stand trial,” he told the newspaper. If found guilty of the Class D felony, he faces six months to three years in jail.

Shaw was moved from Hillcrest Centre to Clark Memorial Hospital’s behavior health unit before being transferred to the Clark County Jail. Hillcrest Centre released a statement saying it provided a detailed report to the Indiana State Department of Public Health and that it would take measures to ensure all residents of the facility remain free of any abuse.

Family members of the victim are calling for the home to close down, and they are pursuing a lawsuit against the nursing home on their daughter’s behalf.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Schizophrenic man to stand trial in nursing home sexual abuse case

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The elderly nursing home resident lives in an Alzheimer’s unit at Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana, Illinois. The nurse who is accused of attacking him had worked at the home for just a few weeks before the incident occurred. Two people at the nursing home witnessed the attack and called police. Though the victim didn’t require medical treatment, Hill was arrested and charged with aggravated battery to a senior citizen. It is a Class 3 felony, which carries a sentence of probation to two to five years in prison.

According to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, aggressive behavior is common among people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. According to the Foundation, “Disruptions commonly occur if a person with Alzheimer’s feels their personal space has been invaded, for example, during dressing, bathing, or a doctor’s appointment. It’s important to understand that someone with Alzheimer’s is more likely to misinterpret certain actions and respond aggressively.”

That said, those who care for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia should be specifically trained on how to minimize aggression in patients and how to handle aggression when it occurs. For more on caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s who has become disruptive, see the alzinfo.org discussion at http://www.alzinfo.org/treatment/communicating/default.aspx#4.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home aides need training to handle dementia patient aggression

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Earlier this week the sisters were arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of one count of operating and/or maintaining an assisted living facility without a license. If convicted, the sisters each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to All Headline News.

The arrests followed an investigation by law enforcement and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team also was involved in the investigation.

Earlier this year, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration sent notices to each of the homes requiring the facilities to close. The women stand trial in the Judicial Curcuit Court on April 17th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

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Bedsores are one of the most serious problems facing people with disabilities or the elderly who are bed ridden, use a wheelchair for mobility, or are unable to change positions without help. They can develop quickly, progress rapidly and are often difficult to heal. They are often caused by sustained pressure on the body and usually happen in areas that aren’t well padded with muscle or fat, such as the spine, tailbone, shoulder blades, hips, heels and elbows.

An autopsy listed Gerhardt’s death as caused by complications from a hip fracture and that the manner of death was an accident. Despite the ruling, the attorney general’s office continued to investigate the case.

Last week, the owner of the nursing home was found guilty of felony abuse and neglect in Gerhardt’s death. The nursing home faces a possible $5,000 fine and could be stripped of its ability to receive federal payments for health care. Sentencing is schedule for March 13.

The family of Gerhardt filed a civil suit in 2006 against the nursing home. It was settled out of court.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home found guilty in death of man left on bedpan for 24 hours

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Authorities began to investigate Kern Valley Healthcare District’s Lake Isabella facility in January 2007 after an ombudsman reported to the California Department of Public Health that a patient had been held down and given an injection by force. An investigation revealed that at least one patient was given injections of mood-altering drugs because she was biting, hitting and kicking others. She never regained consciousness. Another received an injection after arguing with the nursing director and stayed in a zombie-like state for a week.

The California Attorney General’s office says 22 patients were involved. All victims suffered from dementia. Three patients may have died from complications from the drugs and one other may have suffered injuries.

An investigation led to the arrests this week of director of nursing Gwen Hughes and pharmacist Debbi Gayle Hayes. Dr. Hoshang Pormir, a staff physician, is also facing charges for approving the medication requests without first examining the patients. Hughes and Hayes face eight felony charges of causing harm or death to an elder or dependant adult and two felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon through overmedication. Pormir faces eight felony charges of causing harm or death to an elder or dependent adult. If convicted, all three face up to 11 years in prison.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home staff arrested for administering mood-altering drugs

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It was DeLeon’s job to make sure Palko’s care was paid for. Instead, she went on a shopping spree, even paying cash for a new car and using Palko’s vehicle as a trade-in. Within two years, Palko was left with just $47 in her bank account and more than $55,000 in nursing home fees.

Last February, DeLeon applied for medical assistance government benefits, which led to the investigation that uncovered the theft.

”In my 18 years on the bench, I’ve never seen one with such an exorbitant amount,” District Judge David Plachko told DeLeon at her arraignment on two felony theft counts and one of theft by failure to properly handle Palko’s finances and pay for her care. While this is the largest fleecing seen by authorities there, District Attorney James Goodman said, “unfortunately, we’re starting to see cases like this, with large amounts.”

Cases of financial abuse are not uncommon among the elderly. In January, we told you about Connie Gay Cole, who conned her grandparents out of nearly a half million dollars. And then there is the story of Larry Bekis, who swindled all the money from his mother’s account leaving her in debt to the nursing home where she lived.

Safe State, a program by the California Attorney General’s Office, offers these tips to help identify the signs of elder financial abuse. Those who suspect financial abuse of a loved one should contact police.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Another nursing home resident becomes a victim of financial abuse

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The police launched an investigation at the home, interviewing everyone there who had contact with Asher. It was only then that the staff director admitted to wrong doing – she had burned him with hot water. That admission led to the arrest of Seijdra Eribo on suspicion of felony injury of a disabled person causing severe bodily injury, according to the report.

A spokesperson with Medical Case Management said the company performed a routine criminal background check on Eribo before she was hired in 2007. She began work at the home as a nursing aide. The company fired Eribo for not fully cooperating with the investigation.

The home has not received any disciplinary action by state regulators in the past, and doesn’t plan to make any changes in the future as the home, he said, followed followed state regulations. “It bothers us. It really bothers me if she did it,” said Robert Taylor, program director for Medical Case Management.

Asher’s family still cries when they think about the burns their son sustained while at the nursing home. “That house should not be open for business,” said Asher’s sister Katrina, to CBS11 TV.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing aide arrested for burning disabled man

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Sloan gradually began to hear the truth. CNA Karen Buck had hit and slapped Talbott numerous times in the face causing a black eye and two other facial bruises after Talbott spit at her. Sloan contends that Buck caused her mother pain while putting stockings on her sore feet.

The executive director of Williamsburg Village, now known as Golden Living Center, issued a statement saying that the nursing home had reported the situation to authorities and that the incident had been fully investigated by the state, the ombudsman, the police and the attorney general’s office. The statement claimed, “After the investigations were concluded, the alleged abuse was not substantiated, and the prosecutor has declined to pursue the case.”

However the prosecutor’s office did charge Buck with felony battery resulting in bodily injury. Battery becomes a felony offense when the victim is, among other things, an endangered adult, as was Talbott, who moved into the nursing home after suffering a stroke.

Talbott died less than three months later. Attorneys hired to represent Talbott’s estate claim that the brutal and savage assault and beating Talbott suffered at the hands of Buck, and the nursing home’s negligence, resulted in serious complications that ultimately led to Talbott’s wrongful death.

Golden Living Center has a four-star rating by the federal government, which his based on inspections, staffing levels and quality measurements.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › CNA punches, slaps nursing home patient in face

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While she was away, a 47-year-old disabled woman had a heat stroke and seizures. She was found around 5 a.m. by another resident who called 911. The woman who had fallen ill was rushed to the hospital, according to the story.

An investigation found that the air conditioning had been out for days at the facility and the temperature in the room in which the woman was found was extremely high, according to an affidavit.

A housekeeper at the home told investigators that Shaw said she was headed to the beach. Another report said she was heading home to get medication. Regardless, she never returned. One resident said that Shaw had played the disappearing act before in her 10-year career at Personal Care II.

An investigation into Shaw’s past revealed she had a history of mental health problems, including bipolar disorder. She, too, had been a resident in an assisted living facility for a decade. She also has previous convictions, one in 1991 for retail theft and 1994 for assault and battery.

Shaw was arrested and faces up to five years in prison for a charge of neglect of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves 16 unattended at assisted living facility

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“What they did was awful. My mother-in-law tried to tell us … she did everything to keep people away — biting, hitting, striking out,” she was reported as saying in a story by the Star Tribune. “Somebody needs to stand up for our moms and grandparents.”

The abuse is part of a investigation into the “attacks-for-thrills” case where six nursing home aides were accused of abusing cognitively impaired residents at Good Samaritan Society for on-the-job entertainment. According to prosecutors, the aides held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents.

Two of the accused – 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson – are charged as adults with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct, and failure to report suspected maltreatment. All are gross misdemeanors. Four other aides, all charged as juveniles, are charged with not reporting the suspected abuse. The Freeborn County Attorney says Broitzman and Larson will likely face suspended jail sentences and probation, which family members think is an outrage.

A family member, who is not named, contacted Wes Bledsoe, president and founder of A Perfect Cause, a watchdog group that fights “to end needless suffering and preventable deaths while protecting the rights of citizens from corporate greed and negligence.” Bledsoe came to Albert Lea to organize a town hall meeting, which was preceded by the press conference. At the gathering, Bledsoe denounced the county attorney who filed the charges, Good Samaritan, and the Minnesota State Health Department. Bledsoe argued that had the two women charged with the crimes been men, they would be facing much more serious felony charges instead of misdemeanors.

“They thought they could get away with it, because the residents had dementia, couldn’t speak up for themselves. Well, if they are guilty, maybe they will get away with a slap on the wrists,” the Star Tribune quoted Bledsoe.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Families, advocate speak out at Albert Lea town hall meeting

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Chmura had scooped the ice from the ice bin at By the Lake senior assisted living facility she owns in Hayden, Idaho. She immediately had a suspect in mind – a disgruntled employee who had just joined two other employees in a walkout to protest of a firing of two employees three days prior, according to The Seattle Times.

“I won’t put up with this crap,” Chmura told the newspaper. Chmura opened the facility two years ago.

Chmura contacted Kootenai County officials and informed them of the urine-in-the-bin incident as well as suspected theft and fraud by the former employees. The facility owner accused the former employees of stealing money and prescription drugs from the assisted living center, including OxyContin and hydrocodone. She claims the three made more than $10,000 in credit card purchases for personal items such as groceries and gift cards, restaurant dinners and theater tickets.

She told police that before the walkout, the employees woke up residents and told them the assisted living center was closing and that all employees had been fired.

Chmura is part of an advocacy group that fights for stronger laws against those who abuse and neglect vulnerable adults. The group is credited with triggering the 2005 state legislation that made abusing the elderly a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Disgruntled employee accused of putting urine in ice bin

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The caregiver was spotted by neighbors five to 10 times over the next several weeks carrying the items out of Fenton’s house by the armload. When questioned by neighbors, the caregiver said she was a friend of Fenton’s and was simply delivering Fenton’s winter wardrobe to her in the nursing home.

When Fenton’s brother went to his sister’s home, he noticed several items missing. He called the police and filed a report. Officers questioned the caregiver. In her car were several items, but no clothes. The suspect also had a key to the Fenton’s front door.

Police scoured pawn shop records and suspected at least three of the rings had been pawned. Several other pieces of jewelry remain missing. Family members put the price tag of the missing jewelry at about $20,000. A search warrant turned up so much of Fenton’s belongings officers had to execute a second search warrant to actually take possession of the items, according to the story.

As it turned out, the suspect had a prior felony stealing conviction. She was since fired from the nursing home and now faces burglary charges in the Cambridge Retirement Residence case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver steals thousands from patient’s home

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When officials at Genesis Rehabilitation suspected Dellarma’s credentials were at fault, they immediately suspended him. Then they contacted the Department of Health, local authorities and the Attorney General’s office. Dellarma was later terminated by his employer.

Dellarma was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated forgery, a Class B felony, for allegedly filing a public document with a public office with the intent to defraud or deceive. Dellarma also was indicted on two counts of felony theft by deception and one count for unlicensed practice of physical therapy, a misdemeanor.

The Morning Sentinel quoted a statement released by Genesis Rehabilitation: “We take issues like this very seriously and are cooperating fully with the authorities as they handle this situation. This is an isolated incident and is not a reflection of the overall quality of care provided to our patients every day. We remain committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment for the patients in our care.”

There was no evidence that any patients were harmed or endangered. No other information about the case was released, and the case remains under investigation by the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Health Care Crimes Unit.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Physical therapist charged with unlicensed practice, forgery

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But when Fitzgerald returned 2 ½ hours later, the facility was overrun with firefighters and deputies, according to the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times.

While Fitzgerald was out of the building to handle what she later told police was a home health crisis, an 88-year-old woman fell on the bathroom floor. Unable to get up, she asked a fellow resident to call 911. When medical personnel from Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue arrived, they discovered there were no staff members on site and called the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office to investigate.

When Fitzgerald returned, she willingly told police she had left a resident in charge. Police then found Vicodin, a controlled substance, in her pocket. Fitzgerald, 60, was booked on one count of abuse and neglect of the elderly, a second-degree felony and one count of possession of a controlled substance, also a felony. Police say other charges may follow. Fitzgerald was jailed with a $12,000 bail.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nurse arrested for leaving 21 assisted living residents alone

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