Ohio lags nation in guardianship reform

Jim Hutchcraft used to fear dying alone.

The threat was real for the 53-year-old former construction worker with heart disease and two failed kidneys. Trapped in a nursing home since an out-of-control infection in his big toe cost him his right foot and part of his leg, Hutchcraft was at the mercy of the nursing-home staff for his care.

He had no friends who could help him. No one in his family knew where he was.

Then something rare happened. A stranger came to say she was with a program that matches volunteers with people who need help managing their affairs.

“I thought she was cracked,” Hutchcraft said. “You don’t see people going out of their way to help other people.”

Diana Felice, who goes by Di, threw herself into her job as Hutchcraft’s conservator, a type of guardianship established for people who are of sound mind but need help managing their affairs because of fragile health.

Over the next six months, she visited Hutchcraft weekly, logging dozens of hours meeting with him and with the nursing-home staff to insist that he get better care.

Not satisfied with just seeing to Hutchcraft’s health needs, Felice did some Internet sleuthing and tracked down his 24-year-old daughter in Minnesota. They were reunited in April for the first time in 15 years.

“It gives you hope in life,” Hutchcraft said. “It gives you something in life to look forward to.”

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Ohio lags nation in guardianship reform