Thursday, February 16, 2017

Elderly woman's former POA sues assisted living facility for denying him access to his client

A high profile professional guardian, who faces criminal charges, is now taking a Pinellas County assisted living facility to court, and a six-figure personal services contract is at the center of the dispute.

Fernando Gutierrez was charged late last year with battery and trespassing for an incident that happened at Patrick Manor ALF in St. Petersburg.

Now he's filed a lawsuit, claiming the facility is preventing him from providing services his client already paid for.

According to court documents, an 86-year-old woman who lives at Patrick Manor signed a document making Gutierrez her power of attorney in June of 2012.

Gutierrez used that POA to hire himself to provide services for her, including monitoring her health, providing for her hygiene needs and even attempting "to amuse and entertain" her.

Fernando Gutierrez
Gutierrez paid himself $180,000 for his services, which represented all of her available funds, according to the contract included in the lawsuit.

He also signed a nearly $42,000 promissory note with an 8 percent annual interest rate on her behalf, which would be satisfied by future payments to himself.

The contract indicates the client would pay him at a rate of $35 per hour for 18 hours of services each week.

The price was arrived at using an insurance actuary table estimating her additional expected lifespan at slightly more than five years.

The elderly client revoked the POA last fall, at which point Patrick Manor banned Gutierrez from the property.

Full Article, News Report, and Source:
Elderly woman's POA sues assisted living facility for denying him access to his client

5 comments:

  1. Actually this might be good news as a loss can be used against him in other litigation.

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  2. This is almost comical. Sounds like the guardian needs to be examined for his capacity!

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  3. The arrogance of Fernando Gutierrez - how many victims in total? Is Gutierrez still prowling the halls of hospitals? Nursing homes? Assisted Living Facilities?


    http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/professional-guardian-under-investigation-by-attorney-general-for-allegedly-exploiting-seniors

    ..........“I'm their patient advocate,” he said, when he was interviewed after an elderly resident died in a Pinellas Park nursing home.

    The patient was one of 12 people at that facility for whom Gutierrez served as a health proxy, allowing him to make medical decisions on their behalf.

    The Florida Attorney General's Office is now investigating whether Gutierrez is exploiting any of the elderly people in his care, through power of attorney agreements he gets patients to sign in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

    A Pinellas county Inspector General's Office report says Gutierrez "parks in physician parking spots, then puts on a white lab coat and enters the facility.".......

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  4. This guy operates in Pinellas county? Is the fraud unit after him and if so, I wonder when they got on his trail.

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