South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

KansasCity.com had an article reporting the guilty plea of one of two women accused of physically and sexually humiliating nursing home residents for months in Albert Lea, Minn., to three of the charges against her in a case that has heightened attention to how aides are chosen and supervised.  Brianna Broitzman was an aide at Good Samaritan, the nursing home that was the focus of state investigations and widespread publicity about the case in early 2008.  Her guilty plea covers gross-misdemeanor disorderly conduct involving three victims.

The charges against Broitzman said she admitted to police that she poked one resident in the breast. The teens who were implicated accused Broitzman of numerous other actions, including spitting in a resident's mouth, jabbing the breasts of several residents and putting "her bare butt" on a resident's face.

According to the complaint against Larson, she admitted to police that she inserted her finger into the rectum of a resident. She said she was trying to trigger a bowel movement but acknowledged that this was not part of her training. The complaint said she also acknowledged getting into bed with a resident and making a humping motion, patting the buttocks of one resident and trying to get another angry and then laughing at her.

The allegations became public in August 2008, when state Health Department inspectors concluded that aides, to make their work "fun," had abused 15 residents suffering from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The state said some of the residents were combative, easily agitated or blind.

Six aides, high school friends at the time, were charged - Broitzman and Ashton Larson as adults and the four others as juveniles who were found responsible for not reporting the abuse as required by state law. The women were accused of abusing seven residents who suffered from dementia.

Sexual abuse cases in nursing homes during the 1980s and '90s led to laws requiring reports of suspected abuse and criminal background checks of those who work with vulnerable adults.

Broitzman will be sentenced in Freeborn County District Court on Oct. 22.  A presentence investigation recommends that Broitzman spend up to a year in jail, pay a $3,000 fine or spend two years on probation.

The case against Larson, 20, another former aide at the Good Samaritan nursing home, is proceeding toward trial. Broitzman and Larson were charged with fifth-degree assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct and failing to report suspected maltreatment. All are gross misdemeanors.

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Finally an Attorney General has indicted THI entities for resident abuse and neglect.   It is about time.  Hopefully, this will open the flood gates for other state attorney generals to investigate and indict these entities who have shown a pattern of neglect and careless indifference to their residents. See indictments here and here.   The indictments have a lot of factual information showing the lack of care provided to a vulnerable adult. 

Murray Forman and Leonard Grunstein own and operate Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings which own, operate, and control the hundreds of THI facilities in the U.S. managed by Fundamental Clinical Consulting (the successor company to indicted THI of Baltimore Management).

The pattern of poor care and careless indifference by Fundamental in their THI facilities is well known in the nursing home industry.  Hopefully, these indictments will change their policies and procedures but it is doubtful.

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The Orlando News had an article about the investigation at Springs Group Home into the abuse of a resident with cerebral palsy. DCF is looking into allegations that two caregivers at Springs Group Home used excessive force on Bryan Barborka. His arm was fractured and his body was badly bruised when the workers were trying to restrain him.

DCF investigated this nursing home back in 2008 for a complaint as well.

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WREG out of Memphis reported a story from The Mountain Press about a Pigeon Forge nursing home aide pleading guilty to taking photos and video of nude patients. The Mountain Press reported 50-year-old Mary Ann Burgess entered guilty pleas to health care abuse charges.

Burgess and another nursing assistant at Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center, April Longmire, were indicted in September on four counts each.  The newspaper reported the photos were discovered when Burgess apparently forgot her cell phone at a restaurant and employees found the pictures while trying to find out who the phone belonged to.

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The Winston-Salem Journal had an article about Clemmons Nursing and Rehab Center possibly losing the ability to be reimbursed by Medicaid and Medicare for failing to follow OBRA regulations and other standards of care.  Clemmons is facing federal and state claims that it isn't properly caring for residents after investigators found that employees injured a patient by carelessly picking her up out of a wheelchair and throwing her onto her bed.  The state's investigation cited concerns about residents' physical and mental health and said the nursing home failed to comply with its policies and procedures, such as filing timely reports on incidents.  The center also was cited by the state for not properly observing residents' medication regimens and not properly cleaning some female residents' genitals.

Medicare may no longer make payments to the center for new inpatient services, and would only make payments for up to 30 days for patients admitted before June 19.  However, federal and state agencies have in the past extended the compliance deadline, depending primarily on whether the facility shows initiative in addressing deficiencies.

Clemmons is operated by Forsyth Health Investors LLC. The center has 120 beds and 71 residents.  The center also received a notice, dated June 1, that its state certification was in immediate jeopardy. 

The state agency recommended to Medicare that the center be fined a civil penalty of $10,000 for each incident.  A survey by the federal Medicare and Medicaid agency, released in December, gave the center two out of five stars, with five being the highest. The rankings focus on three categories -- health inspections, staffing and quality measures.

See full report here.

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Michael Owens of the Bristol Herald Courier wrote an article about National HealthCare-Bristol ignoring the obvious warning signs of abuse including those acts done by James Wright who was recently convicted of sexual assaults.

The article talks about one resident who rolls into a fetal position and reaches with both hands between her legs and around her back and shifting hands from side to side along her inner thighs have left her flesh tissue thin, red and raw as if to block sexual advances. The actions are the psychological remnants of a sexual assault by former employee and convicted serial molester James Wright.

The traumatized woman is among the dozen patients that state detectives say were sexually assaulted at NHC between February 2000 and August 2007.  State detectives have linked him to seven attacks. State medical licensing documents also tie Wright to a later rape at another assisted-living facility, where he took a job immediately after leaving NHC.

Somehow, the abuse continued for seven years even though there were red flags.

The first showed up in February 2000. A resident accused Wright of touching her inappropriately, and then warned him to stay out of her room.  In the following years, accusations by three other patients sent officers from multiple law enforcement agencies looking for an unknown assailant.

NHC contends the attacks could have been stopped had only the abuse been reported up the chain of command to the home administrator.  Employee records and witness accounts suggest that NHC-Bristol management also might have harbored concerns about Wright.   Five female patients complained of being attacked in the months leading up to Wright’s departure. Three times, co-workers blamed Wright almost immediately.

However, instead of firing him or reporting him to the authorities, NHC allowed him to resign with favorable recommendations amid a crescendo of sexual assault complaints. Wright jumped to a similar job at nearby Grand Court Assisted Living immediately leaving NHC.  A solid recommendation by then-NHC Director of Nursing Elizabeth Anne Franklin helped him land the job, internal Grand Court documents show. The reference-check report, penned by Grand Court recruiter Sue Huff, does not mention any warning that Wright had been the prime suspect in a sexual assault case just days before he applied for the job.

These assaults, and the manner in which the complaints were handled, illustrates the skepticism that surrounded abuse claims, and the problem of nursing homes failing to investigate or worse, covering the abuse up.

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BakersfieldNow had an article about the neglect suffered by Anita Ramirez after spending less than two weeks at LifeHouse Parkview nursing home.  The family discovered that Ramirez ended up with serious burns during her brief stay. Ramirez was sent to the nursing home to resolve a bedsore from a recent hospitalization

"She needed to be turned every two hours," Dias (daughter) said. "And she was on an I.V. antibiotic, and they felt this was the best course of action."

The family soon had concerns about Ramirez' care.  Another daughter, Amanda Ayala, was very worried and she called police to help get Ramirez transferred to the hospital.  "The same nurse that saw her two weeks or three weeks prior, saw her -- and said, What happened to you?" Dias said. "One of the nurses that bathed her cried, and said nobody deserves this."

The doctors then ordered Ramirez to be transferred to the burn center at San Joaquin Hospital. 

"Once they did an evaluation, they came to realize that these were severe burns all over her body," Dias said. The family has photos showing badly damaged and darkened skin. "She literally has no skin left on parts of her body," Dias said.

The article states that Eyewitness News contacted the California Department of Public Health, and spokesman Ralph Montano said the agency "can confirm an on-going investigation regarding Parkview Health Center." He could not say if that relates to the complaints regarding Ramirez.

Checking the state Health Department website, two complaints are currently on file regarding the LifeHouse Parkview facility on Real Road, but one is from mid-March and the other was started in mid-January.

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WQAD had a story about the cover up of sexual abuse at Windmill Manor nursing home. State and federal authorities have levied more than $92,000 in fines where staff are accused of covering up the sexual abuse of an elderly resident.  State records say a male resident of Windmill Manor was found in bed with a female resident in November, and both were undressed. And then, on Christmas Day, staff saw the two having sex. Staff did nothing to prevent the two from engaging in sexual activity.

In addition to the fines against Windmill Manor nursing home, criminal charges were filed recently against its former director of nursing, Karen Etter.  Regulators also allege that Etter warned staff members not to tell anyone of the incident if they wanted to keep their jobs. Regulators say the woman, who has Alzheimer's disease, could not have given informed consent to sex.

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WCBSTV.com had an incredible story with a video showing a nursing home employee willfully neglecting a resident.  The video shows a nurse dumping an elderly woman in a wheelchair on the floor.   Nursing homes are supposed to be a safe place for the most vulnerable -- the elderly too sick and frail to care for themselves. But CBS 2 HD got an exclusive look at what happens when a nurse, instead of taking care of a patient, causes incredible harm. This is all too typical of the type of care provided at most nursing homes.

Criminal charges against nurse Jessie Joiner are based on the video recorded by a camera placed to protect patients and staff, by the William Benenson Rehabilitation Pavilion in Queens, N.Y.   Joiner is seen on video pushing a medication cart but suddenly abandons the cart and heads to the patient in the wheelchair. Joiner appears to jerk the chair sharply to the left and the woman, who is 85 years old and suffers from dementia, goes flying to the ground, a fall that breaks her hip.   No other staff intervened or assisted the resident.   The woman is seen lying alone on the floor for more than two minutes before another employee arrives on the scene. It appears he will help her, but with the patient still writhing on the floor, for over a minute he does nothing.

Nurse Joiner is seen walking right by the patient, who is now flailing on the ground with a broken hip. She does this not once but twice and then leaves the area.

According to the attorney general's complaint, Joiner admitted knocking the woman out of the wheelchair and not helping her. The complaint also alleges that she didn't report the incident until another staff member noticed the patient and later lied about it to the nursing home staff.

Joiner's attorney, Michaelangelo Matera, told a different story, saying that the patient herself caused her own fall.  Incredible.  Blame the victim.

Among the charges against Joiner are endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person and willful violation of health laws. She has pleaded not guilty.

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WKYC.com had an article on the lack of investigation into sexual assaults in Ohio nursing homes.  The Ohio Attorney General's Office received 158 complaints of sexual violence against elderly and disabled residents of long-term care facilities in Northeast Ohio since January 2006, but only two of those cases ended with a conviction, a Channel 3 News investigation found.

Most of the complaints were forwarded by the Ohio Department of Health, which received 324 complaints statewide, alleging rape and other sexual abuse of residents in nursing homes, residential care facilities and assisted living facilities.

The article discusses several cases and convictions but prosecutors blame the unreliability of the victim's testimony due to their age and dementia.

By law, nursing homes are required to report sexual abuse of residents to the state health department. The health department tries to find cases that aren't reported by examining patient files during annual inspections of long-term care facilities.

But as The Investigator Tom Meyer found, sex abuse cases can still slip through the cracks because long-term care facilities don't always document abuse.

"We see a concerted effort to under-report, to not document things that are significant," said David Krause, an attorney who has sued several facilities for sex abuse that was never reported. "They don't want people to know that it happened at their facility."

Alison Renko, a forensic nurse who treats sexual abuse victims, said family members and caregivers can uncover sexual abuse of elderly and disabled patients by looking for behavioral changes if an employee or another resident comes into the room during a visit.

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