Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Ninety-five year old Helen Jensen was found dead outside Wesley Homes Health Care Center in Des Moines, Washington.

Ms. Jensen was last seen by facility staff around 11:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7, 2009. Three hours later, police were summoned after facility staff could not locate Ms. Jensen. Security camera footage revealed the elderly woman left the facility by its main door around 11:45 p.m. Four hours after she disappeared, Ms. Jensen was found lying on her back approximately 100 yards away in the garden of Wesley Terrace, a neighboring facility. Her wheelchair was just a few feet away, one of the wheels off of the main path.

Ms. Jensen did not have a history of wandering, yet earlier that evening she had been found in a different wing of the facility and escorted back to her room.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet officially determined the cause of death.

Top officials at Regency at the Park, a skilled nursing facility located in College Place, Washington, have been terminated after the state Department of Social and Health Services determined that the facility caused a resident harm.

Reportedly, the resident suffered mental and physical abuse in the summer of 2009. The resident was admitted to the facility in 2000 and suffered from short and long-term memory impairments, poor decision-making abilities, and was resistant to care. In early June 2009, the resident began refusing to change her clothes or shower and according to a state report, her body odor "had become very offensive".

On July 24, facility administration revoked the woman's smoking privileges for refusing to shower or change her clothes and took her ashtrays from the smoking area. Staff told her that being allowed to smoke was a courtesy and she would not get her cigarettes until she complied. She was also told that the Administrator would not allow her to purchase cigarettes with her own money. The resident continued to smoke and a fire was found in a trash can on August 29 in the area where she was allowed to smoke, putting all facility residents in danger.

When the resident continued to refuse to shower, Administrator Larry White pushed the resident in her wheelchair to the shower area and ordered Director of Nursing Mary Coates for have two aides shower the resident. The resident reportedly struggled against the aides and suffered superficial injuries. She was injured twice more when forced to shower in August. The facility where residents live is considered their home and staff is "working for them", according to a representative for the state ombudsman program. Therefore, forcing someone to shower is considered abuse.

The ensuing investigation found that the resident had suffered abuse at the hands of Administrator Larry White and Director of Nursing Mary Coates and they were terminated from their positions. Additionally, the facility was issued a citation.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Ninety-seven year old Charles Bradley had been a resident of Everett Care & Rehabilitation since 2004. He died on March 31, 2008, after contracting severe urinary tract and genital infections. According to court documents, Bradley family attorneys allege that Everett Care & Rehabilitation staff did not treat a wound caused by penile cancer for months and the wound contributed to his death.

In November 2007, a facility staff member was changing Mr. Bradley and noted that his skin was breaking down. The staff member followed procedure and notified a care manager. Communication broke down with the care manager. Reportedly, the care manager did not notify Mr. Bradley's doctor and then left on vacation.

According to the Complaint filed in this matter, Mr. Bradley's genitals broke apart slowly and he began losing weight. On March 13, 2008, he was taken to the hospital at his son's insistence and was diagnosed with urinary tract and genital infections and pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors also found that there was nearly nothing left of his penis due to penile cancer, which had gone undiagnosed and untreated.

Reportedly, two weeks prior to Mr. Bradley's pneumonia diagnosis, staff noticed his wound and reported it to senior staff at the facility and it appears that nothing was done.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us online at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Life Care Center of Bothell, located in Bothell, Washington, faces an investigation by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) following a recent resident death.

A ninety-three year old facility resident slipped and fell in late June 2009 while getting out of bed. She was taken to Evergreen Hospital and Medical Center and treated for a cut on her head and a skin tear on her arm. She then was sent to hospice care, where she died.

After four reports to the DSHS hot line concerning the resident's care, DSHS launched an investigation into whether the facility provided adequate supervision and if the resident was neglected. The reports were allegedly filed by the hospital, the state department of Adult Protective Services, the nursing home's Director of Nursing, and a relative of the resident. The DSHS investigation is ongoing.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Joseph Njonge is on trial, accused of murdering a resident's wife in the parking lot of the facility where he worked. Njonge, a nurse's aide at the Garden Terrace nursing home in Federal Way, Washington, was charged with first degree murder in the death of Jane Britt, the wife of one of the residents Njonge regularly cared for. Jane Britt allegedly was strangled in the parking lot of Golden Terrace and her body was placed in the trunk of her Mercedes-Benz. Her body was found on March 19, 2008; she was last seen at 7:00 p.m. on March 18, 2008, after visiting her husband.

Jane Britt visited her husband, Frank Britt, nearly every day and Njonge considered her his friend. Njonge last saw Jane Britt on March 18, 2008 at 5:20 p.m., while working the 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. shift. Prosecutors believe that Jane Britt scratched her assailant during a fierce struggle before she was strangled. A large sample of DNA was found under her fingernails. While Njonge said he did not know how his DNA got under Britt's fingernails, trial testimony revealed that the odds of the DNA under Britt's fingernails belonging to someone other than Njonge were 1 in 19 quadrillion. Njonge testified that Britt had scratched his head in a "lighthearted way" with both of her hands the day she was last seen.

During Njonge's testimony in his murder trial, he admitted to taking Frank Britt's Costco card. Allegedly, Njonge took the card in July or August 2007 to check out prices for a flat screen television and forgot to return it. He also admitted to taking a Thomas Kinkade painting from another resident's room and pawning a diamond ring he allegedly found in a shower room at the nursing home facility. Njonge said he took several framed paintings from the facility to duplicate styles of framing. "I usually took them back," he said.

If convicted, Njonge faces from 20 to more than 26 years in prison.

Frank Britt died in May 2009. Frank and Jane Britt had been married for 56 years.

Extendicare Homes, a subsidiary of Extendicare Health Services, Inc., faces a class action lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court in Washington State against Extendicare Homes, Fir Lane Terrace Convalescent Center, Inc. and 15 other long-term skilled nursing care facilities in Washington. The suit alleges inadequate staffing. The attorney for plaintiffs alleges that Extendicare's corporate strategy is to "maximize profits at the expense of the elderly and vulnerable people it claims to serve".

Extendicare operates 191 senior care facilities nationwide, 17 of which are in Washington.

Claiming that the penalty for putting a resident in danger of a grusome death by bedrail asphyxiation is "a little harsh", the Garden Village nursing home in Yakima, Washington is appealing a recent citation by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. The bedrail safety violation was uncovered recently during a routine inspection. Garden Village was cited when an inspector found that a bed mattress was too far away from the bed rails, increasing the likelihood of patient entrapment. While the resident using the bed did not have any "involuntary" movements, the facility acknowledged the problem and fixed it immediately. The violation was reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As a penalty, the Center determined that Medicare reimbursement for new patients at the facility would be suspended for thirty days. Facility spokesman, Steve Kaczynski, complained "We thought it was a little harsh for one bed". Further, he stated that the nursing home would continue to accept new patients despite the suspension imposed. Garden Village is appealing the citation.

Bedrail asphyxiation has been a problem that has plagued nursing homes for years. In 1995, the FDA issued an alert warning all nursing homes that certain residents were at risk for becoming entrapped between the mattress and bedrails of their bed. Nursing homes were given a call to action to ensure the safety of residents who had siderails on their bed. Unfortunately, some residents were not protected and died. More on bedrail safety to come.

Yet another report involving sexual assault in America's nursing homes. Sexual abuse of elderly residents happens far more than anyone might ever believe. Although nursing homes are supposed to provide their residents with quality care and a safe environment, all too often lack of staff, lack of supervision, low wages, and lack of funding by the corporate ownership creates an environment that allows this to happen.

The latest example is in Kent, Washington where an employee at Integrated Living Services has been charged with second-degree rape for a sexual assault on a resident. The assault was only discovered after the resident suffered a miscarriage and DNA testing revealed that the employee was the father. The woman is blind and suffers from a disorder that left her with the mental development of a small child. The employee has denied any responsibility.