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

The Jackson Sun News had an incredible story about a nursing home who hired a woman with a long history of fraud and forgery.  Sheila Watson was arrested and charged with one count of identity theft, four counts of criminal simulation, four counts of forgery, one count of criminal impersonation and one count of theft over $1,000.  Watson was the social services director at Bells Nursing Home.  Watson is also an ex-convict who has used at least half a dozen different names in a long history of state and federal fraud, forgery and theft convictions.

The investigation into Watson — who has worked at the nursing home since July — began when the nursing home received a call from a state agency.  The investigation is still ongoing but "They said she did a great job and was a good employee," Klyce said. "We've looked at her computer and couldn't find any evidence at this point."

When the Sheriff's Department began investigating, authorities soon discovered Watson's job application was only the tip of the iceberg, he said:

She had borrowed money from the Bank of Crockett County using false documents. She was wanted in Iowa on charges of theft over $10,000. She was on probation but was using a different name and job description to report to her probation officer.

Watson was arrested as Sheila F. Hayes in November 2002 on federal charges of forgery, theft of property and identity theft, according to The Jackson Sun's archives.

She was accused of stealing mail from 135 victims in West and Middle Tennessee for the purpose of stealing identities and embezzling money. She later pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft and was sentenced to five years in prison and three years' probation.

At the time, the judge said Hayes had the highest criminal history score of any woman he had seen in his 20 years as a judge. The bulk of her prior convictions were for theft and fraud, but she was also convicted of escape from a Metro Nashville jail. Watson had charges stretching back to 1989, most of them in Middle and West Tennessee. She reported to a probation officer in Jackson under the name Sheila Hayes and told them she worked for a construction company.

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McKnight's had an article about The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services accepting grant applications from states to establish systems for background checks for potential long-term care employees.   The program helps states create background check systems to screen applicants who apply to work with seniors and the disabled in long-term care facilities. Supporters say the expansion could help prevent convicted criminals from working closely with some of the most vulnerable segments of the population. Background checks are needed and required in most states but the nursing home wants tax payers to pay for it.

The grants are part of the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, a bill that was supported by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and was part of the healthcare reform law that passed this March. The provision expands upon a recently conducted seven-state pilot program that was effective in preventing the hiring of more than 7,000 persons with a violent or abusive past.

Grant recipients will receive funding over three years to create comprehensive, coordinated systems that will prevent those with criminal records and a history of abuse from gaining employment in long-term care facilities. Besides establishing these systems at the state level, the law requires potential hires to be checked against the FBI's national database of criminal history records.  The program provides states with federal funds to create systems accessing abuse and neglect registries, state police records and the FBI's national database of criminal records. Caregivers in Wisconsin are already required to undergo background checks when seeking employment.
 

 "We have a great deal of hard evidence that this policy works and protects lives," said Sen. Herb Kohl, who authored both the measure that created the pilot program and the new law that expanded it. "Background checks have been routine for years for those who work with young children, and we have an obligation to protect vulnerable seniors and Americans with disabilities in the same way."

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ABC11 had a story about a nursing home employee named Michael Brodie who is accused of sexually assaulting a female resident at the Wake Forest Adult Care Center.  Brodie is a 42 year old CNA. 

There are laws regulating who can and can't work at adult care facilities.  ABC11 Eyewitness News I-Team investigation found that this isn't Brodie's first brush with the law.  His rap sheet also includes misdemeanor simple assault and an assault with a deadly weapon charge.  Just the kind of person you want taking care of your loved one.

"It was very inappropriate that's all I can say about that," Wake Forest Care Center Director Terri Allen said. "I can't really tell you what happened."

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The Boston Herald had another article about a sexual assault at a nursing home.  Are these nursing homes doing background checks or interviews? Where is the supervision?  Antonio Aburjaile has been charged with sexually assaulting two nursing home patients who were entrusted to his care.  He was indicted on three counts of indecent assault and battery on an elder and lewd and lascivious behavior.

A certified nursing assistant, Aburjaile worked at the Elizabeth Seton Residence, where he helped patients with range-of-motion exercises, fed them and made their beds.  His alleged victims include two women, ages 71 and 70.

Aburjaile was fired in March 2009 following a state Department of Public Health review of the complaints against him.  The nursing home tried to defend themselves by alleging that Aburjaile successfully underwent a background screening before he was hired.

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The Chicago Tribune had an article about the weak and disappointing proposals to improve safety and the quality of care in nursing homes.  A panel appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn proposed  an array of sweeping reforms designed to end the chronic violence and abuse that plague some nursing homes, while fostering better treatment for people with serious mental illness living in those facilities. The proposals range from tightened criminal background checks of new nursing home residents to stronger sanctions and enforcement of facilities with chronic safety breaches.

Quinn's Nursing Home Safety Task Force also recommended that state police begin searching nursing homes for residents with outstanding warrants, and urged the state to increase minimum staffing requirements of the facilities to bring them up to standards spelled out in federal government studies on nursing home care.  "Urge"?  Why don't they propose specific hours per patient day?

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NCCNHR (formerly the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization founded in 1975 by Elma L. Holder to protect the rights, safety and dignity of America's long-term care consumers.   NCCNHR issued the following Bulletin:

The health care reform bill passed by the House of Representativesbefore includes not only sweeping health insurance reforms but also nursing home transparency, criminal background checks on long-term care workers, and a voluntary payroll deduction system that would provide benefits for long-term care services. The bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, can be downloaded at http://thomas.loc.gov.

As expected, the bill includes-without amendment-nursing home transparency provisions requiring:

1)  Public disclosure of individuals and entities that own, govern, operate, finance, provide services to, and/or control the nation's nursing homes.

2)  Compliance and ethics programs and internal quality assurance programs in nursing homes, and pilot projects to test ways to improve oversight of chains.

3)  Collection and reporting of staffing information based on payroll data, including hours of care per resident day, turnover and retention rates, and facility expenditures for wages and benefits.

4)  A review of Nursing Home Compare and addition of information about sanctions against facilities and the number of adjudicated crimes occurring in them.

5)  A categorical breakdown of expenditures on cost reports to show how much facilities spend on direct care versus other expenses.

6)  An improved state complaint process to help protect complainants against retaliation.

7)  An increase in federal civil monetary penalties and a process to hold CMPs in escrow during appeals (although only after an independent informal dispute resolution process was completed).
8)  Adequate notification when facilities decided to close, including the option for the government to continue reimbursement until relocation was achieved.

9)  Training of nursing assistants in dementia care and abuse prevention.

10)  The bill would authorize a program of national criminal background checks on all long-term care workers who have access to residents or patients--from those who provide in-home long-term care services to nursing home employees.

H.R. 3962 also incorporates the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act to create a national voluntary social insurance system through which enrollees who became disabled (after paying into the system for at least five years) could purchase community-based long-term care, services or supports. Nursing home residents who were Medicaid beneficiaries could retain 5 percent of their benefit, in addition to their personal needs allowance, for their personal use while the remainder was applied to the cost of their care. (See page 1562 of the bill.)

Last-minute efforts to add the Elder Justice Act to H.R. 3962 were not successful. The EJA is in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee.

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WCAX.com reported that two Burlington nursing homes were hit with big fines for having an unauthorized employee. Federal prosecutors say the Burlington Health and Rehab Center and the Starr Farm Nursing Home both hired a nurse who had been previously banned from working in facilities that receive federal health care funds, like Medicare. Such bans often result from fraud convictions, though prosecutors did not release specific details about the employee.

To settle the case with the government, Burlington Health and Rehab paid $175,000 in penalties. Starr Farm paid $40,000. 

How could this happen?  Didn't the nursing homes do the standard background check?  I wish they gave details of why the nurse was banned from working at a nursing home.

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UGH!  Another article about a nursing home employee sexually assaulting one of the resdients.  I can't believe how often this happens.  This story comes from the Salt Lake Tribune.  An employee of Hillside Rehabilitation Center nursing home is accused of sexually abusing an elderly patient with Alzheimer's Disease.  Clifford Ray Holt was charged with one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse of a 62-year-old resident.   Holt led the woman into a room, told her "this is my place" and started massaging her shoulders once the door to the room was closed. He then grabbed the woman's breast aggressively enough to cause a bruise.

Court records show Holt pleaded guilty to burglary of a vehicle, a Class a misdemeanor, in March 2006, and was sentenced to serve a year in prison. He also pleaded guilty to burglary of a vehicle in 1997 and 1999. How did a felon get a job at a nursing home?  Why didn't they do a background check?  Who was supervising this guy?  I hope the nursing home answers these questions.

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WPTV.com had a story about another nursing home employee stealing from one of the residents under her care.  Natasha Petit-Homme has been arrested for stealing over $2,300 from an elderly victim under her care according to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. According to the attorney general the victim was an elderly resident of Woodlake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in West Palm Beach. Petit-Homme was employed as an admissions clerk.

The news release says while working at the facility, Petit-Homme gained access to the victim’s checkbook, wrote herself a check totaling $2,341, and deposited the funds into her personal checking account without permission.

Petit-Homme is charged with one count of exploitation of an elderly person, a third-degree felony. She faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted.
 

Thefts and stolen identities seem to be increasing during the recession.  I hope residents' families keep track of checkbooks, and check credit reports of residents.

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WLKY.com had an article about the Louisville Metro Police's investigation of a nursing home employee who stole the identity of a patient, then turned around and took out nearly $100,000 in loans.  Danielle McClain faces at least a dozen counts of aggravated identity theft.  McClain was an occupational therapist at the Hurstbourne Care Center at Stony Brook.  She stole 85-year-old Jean Wright's personal information.  Wright spent six weeks at the facility after bypass surgery on her leg.

The investigation determined McClain had stolen Wright's information off her driver's license and from conversations the two had in the facility.  Records show McClain listed Wright as her grandmother on loan applications.  If convicted, McClain could face at least 20 years behind bars.

Records show McClain was convicted of forgery, theft, and criminal possession of a forged instrument in September 2000 and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Those records show she was released from prison in October 2007.  There is no explanation how she got hired at the nursing home.  It is doubtful the facility did any criminal background check.  If the facility had done an appropriate and required background check, this incident never would have happened.

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