Rose Quattro is an 88-year-old widow in a wheelchair who just wants to live quietly at her East Hartford home.
Quattro's life landed under court control last summer after she was hospitalized for an infection and ended up in a nursing home. A dispute arose between her son and the nursing home that she was set to be released from. The nursing home - part of the infamous, bankrupt Haven Healthcare chain - went to the probate court, which named a conservator for her and appointed a lawyer to look out for her.
While the lawyers and the nursing home bickered, Quattro remained against her will at the Haven Health Center of East Hartford, running up a $51,646.63 tab when she could have been home. She was finally released in November, but still remains under a conservatorship, stripped of her rights and without access to Social Security and a small pension. Her son pays for a full-time aide to assist him with Rose Quattro's care.
The law is clear when it comes to probate court taking away a person's rights: "If the court of probate having jurisdiction finds a ward to be capable of caring for himself or herself, the court shall, upon hearing and after notice, order that the conservatorship of the person be terminated."
Marilyn Denny, Rose Quattro's Legal Aid lawyer, said "the question is, is [James] taking care of his mother? There is not a shred of evidence that he has ever not taken good care of her."
"Her estate is being dissipated. The nursing home still hasn't been paid," Denny said. "They have made her life and her son's life a living hell."
Source: Shameful Abuse of Probate
James Quattro, a self-employed mechanical contractor, said his mother was sent to the Haven home in March to recover from an infection that had landed her in Manchester Hospital. He expected she would be back at home within a few weeks. But he said the nursing home was reluctant to discharge his mother, setting a list of conditions that included ensuring she had around-the-clock care - something he said the home itself was not providing. Haven maintained that James Quattro was uncooperative in arranging a discharge plan.
With the case tied up in court, Rose Quattro remained in the nursing home until she was finally allowed to return home. Records show Haven had been billing his mother about $350 a day since June, when her Medicare benefits ran out and the legal battle began, and is now seeking more than $50,000.
'Every hearing they had, I asked, 'Why hasn't she been sent home yet? Why are they doing this to her?'' Quattro said of his mother, who was a longtime secretary in East Hartford's town hall. 'It's like they've got the vacuum turned on, and they want to suck up everything we have. It's unbelievable to me.'
It was also reported that the company's efforts to collect unpaid bills, or to pursue conservatorship in some cases, were standard practice in the industry.
Source: Haven Debt Woes
See also:
Quattro's life landed under court control last summer after she was hospitalized for an infection and ended up in a nursing home. A dispute arose between her son and the nursing home that she was set to be released from. The nursing home - part of the infamous, bankrupt Haven Healthcare chain - went to the probate court, which named a conservator for her and appointed a lawyer to look out for her.
While the lawyers and the nursing home bickered, Quattro remained against her will at the Haven Health Center of East Hartford, running up a $51,646.63 tab when she could have been home. She was finally released in November, but still remains under a conservatorship, stripped of her rights and without access to Social Security and a small pension. Her son pays for a full-time aide to assist him with Rose Quattro's care.
The law is clear when it comes to probate court taking away a person's rights: "If the court of probate having jurisdiction finds a ward to be capable of caring for himself or herself, the court shall, upon hearing and after notice, order that the conservatorship of the person be terminated."
Marilyn Denny, Rose Quattro's Legal Aid lawyer, said "the question is, is [James] taking care of his mother? There is not a shred of evidence that he has ever not taken good care of her."
"Her estate is being dissipated. The nursing home still hasn't been paid," Denny said. "They have made her life and her son's life a living hell."
Source: Shameful Abuse of Probate
James Quattro, a self-employed mechanical contractor, said his mother was sent to the Haven home in March to recover from an infection that had landed her in Manchester Hospital. He expected she would be back at home within a few weeks. But he said the nursing home was reluctant to discharge his mother, setting a list of conditions that included ensuring she had around-the-clock care - something he said the home itself was not providing. Haven maintained that James Quattro was uncooperative in arranging a discharge plan.
With the case tied up in court, Rose Quattro remained in the nursing home until she was finally allowed to return home. Records show Haven had been billing his mother about $350 a day since June, when her Medicare benefits ran out and the legal battle began, and is now seeking more than $50,000.
'Every hearing they had, I asked, 'Why hasn't she been sent home yet? Why are they doing this to her?'' Quattro said of his mother, who was a longtime secretary in East Hartford's town hall. 'It's like they've got the vacuum turned on, and they want to suck up everything we have. It's unbelievable to me.'
It was also reported that the company's efforts to collect unpaid bills, or to pursue conservatorship in some cases, were standard practice in the industry.
Source: Haven Debt Woes
See also:
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