The Inspector General’s Office of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services didn’t see the humor in the incidents and has requested Kentucky facilities to prevent the same such use of cell phones among staff.

Some residents were photographed only partially dressed or in compromising situations, such as walking into the bathroom. Others’ voices were recorded as they screamed or made other comments.

In once incident, a woman with Alzheimer’s disease was recorded saying, “I gotta do-do,” to indicate she needed to use the bathroom. The employee who recorded her reportedly played it back to at least 15 people standing at the nurse’s station. At least one staff member said the use of cell phones during the weekend night shift was “out of control.”

Reports of inappropriate cell phone use have sprung up in recent months. Last March, an Oklahoma nursing home employee was arrested after using his phone to videotape his abuse of residents. Last month in Tennessee, two nursing home workers were fired for using their cell phones inappropriately in the home.

A representative with Bluegrass said that all employees involved in the incident at the Kentucky home have been fired and that all 10,000 employees with Signature Healthcare, the company that owns Bluegrass, have been re-educated on the company’s cell phone policy. Those who use cell phones in a resident area are subject to immediate termination.

Source: Kentucky.com

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky investigators urge nursing homes to ban cell phones

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Interviews with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center in Lexington Kentucky staff including aides, licensed staff and housekeepers revealed that no one recognized the photos and recordings as abuse and as a result did not report the incident to management.

The nursing home received a Type A citation from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for not enforcing its policy prohibiting staff members from having cell phones in resident-care areas. A Type A citation is the most serious citation a nursing home can receive. “The facility failed to have an effective system in place to ensure (that) residents were protected from abuse,” the citation said. “The facility’s failure placed residents in imminent danger.” The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services found residents to be in immediate jeopardy and imposed a $6,550 per day fine on the nursing home.

A spokesperson with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center said the facility conducted an internal investigation and as a result fired several employees who participated in the activities. Management also said it is working with state and federal agencies to insure that residents are protected. The facility’s “foremost concern is the care and protection of its residents, and we have taken this matter very seriously.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home staff fired for taking inappropriate photos of residents

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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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If Winchester Centre loses its contract, the home will stop receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments from the federal government and will no longer be certified to care for patients receiving those services. In that event, patients at the home would then be transferred to certified nursing homes, which may result in the closing of Winchester Centre. Officials say they are unsure what will happen to Winchester Centre and that other options besides closing are available, such as bringing in a new group of professionals to run the nursing home and incurring daily fines until specific citations are resolved.

Currently, 166 patients reside in the 183-bed facility. The home offers skilled nursing and rehabilitative care as well as a special unit for patients with dementia. Central Kentucky already has lost 400 Medicaid beds for nursing home patients, said Gannoe. “It’s a disaster for Central Kentucky,” she says.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky nursing home facing most serious citation

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After discovering numerous bruises all over her body, the family of resident Armeda Thomas hid a video camera in her Madison Manor room. For three weeks they recorded nursing assistants physically abusing and taunting Thomas and failing to feed and clean her, according to state records. In one instance, a nursing aide was seen dancing in front of Thomas while another staff member held the resident’s arms.

The video tape showed several nursing assistants partaking in the physical abuse of Thomas. Extendicare, the Wisconsin company that owns Madison Manor, fired 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 in the report.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office says the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could result. The home also was cited by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, threatening its Medicaid certification. The state later issued a statement saying that the nursing home’s management had taken steps to correct the problems.

Thomas’ family members moved Thomas home after seeing the tapes. She died last month after complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home aide shocked by wanton neglect charge

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“We were just so desperate to know the truth and for other people to know the truth,” said Armeda’s granddaughter, Deborah Hamilton in a story in the Lexington Herald-Leader. “Almost everyone has a relative who gets care in a facility. You want to be able to go to sleep at night knowing that your loved one is well cared for and not scared.”

What the video tape revealed was heartbreaking – Armeda was helpless as nursing assistants physically abused and taunted her – pulling her from the bed by her wrists and neck – and even failed to feed and clean her. The tape resulted in an investigation into “injuries of unknown origin” on a total of 17 residents who, like Armeda, were cognitively impaired. That investigation led to a citation by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services against Madison Manor for not adequately investigating the patients’ injuries.

Armeda’s family moved her home. She died on Nov. 7.

The district ombudsman said she has received 17 complaints about Madison Manor this year and as a result has opened 11 cases.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family secretly video tapes abuse of nursing home resident

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Timothy Allen Brown was arrested Tuesday evening in St. Louis on charges of abuse or neglect of an adult and interstate flight to avoid prosecution. Police say Timothy will likely face more charges.

As we reported Oct. 29, Timothy checked his sister Penny Brown out of Georgetown Healthcare Center in 2006 and moved her into his home with his 8-year-old son. Penny suffered from Cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair for mobility, and had a room to herself in her brother’s home.

In mid September, police visited Timothy’s home as part of a child welfare case. The boy was later removed from the home after social service workers discovered deplorable living conditions, such as human feces on the floor. The boy told police he was not allowed to go into his aunt Penny’s room, which then led police back to Timothy’s home to search for her. Neither Timothy nor his sister were there. Police later found Timothy’s car abandoned and found Penny’s body “wrapped in quilts and then the quilts were wrapped in construction-grade plastic to make it more of an air-tight package, and then placed in the back of his car, in the trunk,” said county coroner John Goble.

Police believe that Penny could have been dead since she was released from the nursing home in her brother’s care. Once released, Penny stopped using her food stamps and her medical card. But her $600-$700 per month social security disability checks continued to be cashed, police say.

Penny’s father, Terry Gray of Georgetown, told police he spoke with his daughter by phone in December 2007. Otherwise he was not involved with either Timothy or Penny.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Police arrest brother of disabled woman found dead in car trunk

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It was the last time anyone saw her alive.

Last week, police investigators discovered Penny’s severely decomposed remains, wrapped in blankets and industrial plastic, in the truck of Timothy’s car. The coroner suspects she had been dead for two years, according to the Associated Press.

Police in Georgetown believe that Timothy moved Penny into his apartment with his 8-year-old son. Last month, police visited Timothy’s home as part of a child welfare case. The boy was later removed from the home after social service workers discovered deplorable living conditions, such as human feces on the floor.

During the investigation, the boy told police he was never allowed in his aunt’s bedroom. Police went to Timothy’s home but Timothy had gone missing and Penny was nowhere to be found. After being contacted by police, another relative filed a missing person report. Shortly after, Timothy’s car was found with Penny’s mummified body in the trunk.

Police believe Penny died shortly after leaving the nursing home and that Timothy may have stored her body in his apartment for two years, cashing her monthly social security disability checks. According to the story, Penny’s body was “wrapped in quilts and then the quilts were wrapped in construction-grade plastic to make it more of an air-tight package, and then placed in the back of his car, in the trunk,” said county coroner John Goble.

The state medical examiner says determining a cause of death will be difficult if not impossible, given her decomposed state.

Timothy is still at large. He is described as a 6-foot tall, 230-to-250-pound white male with blue eyes and blond hair. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Timothy should call Georgetown police at (502) 863-7826.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Body of former nursing home patient found in brother’s trunk

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