A Virginia Department of Social Services report from November 2012 was filed with a lawsuit alleging that Province Place of DePaul did not protect a woman who was attacked. The lawsuit also alleges officials tried to cover up the incident.
Staff knew that Steele often walked by the man's room, which "presented a real and foreseeable scenario for harm to occur," according to the lawsuit filed in September by Steele's daughter, Nancy Stillman.
The lawsuit says staff alerted Stillman to her mother's injury. She arrived 20 minutes later and found Emily Steele sitting, alone, her face swollen and bleeding, in an activity room. Stillman and her sister took their mother to the emergency room where she was treated for scratches and bruises.
According to the DSS report, Province Place of DePaul made a "self report" on July 30, 2012, and sent DSS an anonymous letter alleging problems at the facility. The lawsuit says the letter was discovered near a copy machine in the assisted living center and appears to have been written by a staffer.
The lawsuit also alleges that according to nurses' notes, the family was never notified of a December 2011 incident in which the man hit Steele on the head.
A DSS inspector concluded staff "did not protect the residents from known aggressive behavior" of the man.
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Lawsuit cites report criticizing assisted living center
Horrible!
ReplyDeleteWith the backing of that report, the lawsuit should be a real winner. Let's hope so!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny what the Virginian-Pilot chooses to ignore. The lawsuit and anonymous letter, both of which are displayed at the bottom of the Virginian-Pilot website, say that the staff never informed the daughter, who is a registered nurse, that the aggressive man attacked her mother. Instead, they claimed the mother fell, but said they did not see the fall.
ReplyDeleteApparently the daughter did not learn that her mother had been attacked until after the anonymous letter reached Licensing inspectors. The letter also alleged a coverup (duh).
It is nice to know that when CERTAIN elderly ladies are beaten, the Virginian-Pilot is willing to report that fact. If only the Virginian-Pilot were so protective of the mothers of people less important than Ms. Stillman.
What happened to this poor woman is tragic and awful but the worse crime was the coverup.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to look at her little face. I'm so upset.
ReplyDelete