Investigation uncovers guardianship concerns at Saint Francis in Tulsa; Hospital issues response

An Oklahoma Watch investigation reveals troubling practices at some hospitals, including Saint Francis, where families face unwarranted separation from loved ones amid vague guardianship claims, raising urgent questions about the integrity of elder care in the state. 

Friday, August 8th 2025, 10:43 am
By: David Prock, Jonathan Cooper 

TULSA, Okla. - 

UPDATE 8/8/2025:

The Saint Francis Health System released the following statement:

"The premise of the Oklahoma Watch story regarding Saint Francis is false. Saint Francis does not ever take guardianship over a patient and legally cannot do so. Saint Francis has no financial interest in guardianships. Our role is solely to ensure patient safety and to follow legal requirements—not to benefit in any way from guardianship proceedings. Any suggestion that Saint Francis “places” people in Laureate Psychiatric Hospital and Clinic to "hide” them is entirely false and without basis. Such a notion is not only incorrect but preposterous. Our mission is to provide care, not concealment.

Oklahoma Watch’s statement that Saint Francis would not respond is inaccurate. Saint Francis was given insufficient information as to what the story was about and did not have a fair chance to determine whether or how to respond.

Saint Francis Health System is in a financially sound position and is not instituting cost-saving measures beyond what any other health system is doing right now as we anticipate federal revenue changes."

Clarifying the Role Regarding Guardianships and Protection of Vulnerable Adults

Saint Francis Health System is committed to protecting the health, safety and dignity of all patients, including vulnerable adults who may be at risk of abuse or neglect.

Recent public discussion has raised questions about the role of Saint Francis in the guardianship process. It is important for the public to understand the facts:

1. Hospitals do not take guardianship over individuals. Hospitals have no legal authority to seek or obtain guardianship over a patient for the hospital or for any member of its staff.
2. Adult Protective Services (APS)—an Oklahoma government agency—may seek guardianship if there is evidence of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other situations in which a vulnerable adult cannot safely make decisions for themselves.
3. Hospitals are legally obligated to report concerns of abuse or neglect involving vulnerable adults to APS. This is required by state law and is part of our ethical responsibility to protect patients.

Our focus is and always has been on the safety, well-being and dignity of every patient we serve. Saint Francis works closely with families, caregivers and government agencies to ensure that vulnerable adults are protected and receive the care they need.

For more information about Adult Protective Services or to report suspected abuse, call 800-522-3511.

---

Interview transcript below...

An Oklahoma Watch investigation is raising concerns over how some hospitals and state agencies handle power of attorney and guardianship, potentially separating families from loved ones without clear justification.

Reporter Jaycee Hallman joined News On 6’s Jonathan Cooper to break down what she uncovered.

Cooper: What is Oklahoma Watch?

Hallman: "So, Oklahoma Watch is an independent news source based in Oklahoma City. Our pieces get picked up by papers all across the state. And it's one of those rare outlets that focuses on deep dive investigative journalism.

Cooper: Give us some background on this story?

Hallman: Yeah. So it started when I got a tip a couple of months ago about a man named Leroy Theodore, who had had a couple of strokes. He was a quadriplegic. He was in his family's care. They were trained to care for him. By Saint Francis Hospital here in Tulsa. And then he needed medical attention. And he was sent to Saint Francis. And at that point, the hospital sort of seized possession of him and sort of resisted the family having access to him. And there wound up being this prolonged standoff in terms of guardianship orders from courts in a couple of different counties.

Mr. Theodore was eventually sent to a nursing home a couple of hours away in Midwest City. That story ended pretty tragically because Mr. Theodore died when he was still in the state guardianship, and his family wasn't notified of his death until a week after he passed, when the Department of Human Services sent a hard letter to their home rather than. And just hand delivering it, which would have been much faster.

Cooper: Through that story, another family reached out to you as well, right? So tell us about that.

Hallman: Yeah, and more since then, you know that the second one. Well, the first story resulted in several different tips and and and this was a man named Ken Donnelly. And was actually chronologically before Leroy Theodore was back in 2021, a family had taken their father to the same hospital, Saint Francis, and they had attempted to take possession of him.

They sent him to the attached psychiatric facility, Laureate. And eventually, you know, we learned from a source inside the hospital that Laureate might be a receptacle for a number of different people who have been had, have been subjected to guardianship, abuse, or guardianship fraud and are being sent to Laureate in order to hide them.

That's what this source from within the hospital, is is saying. In Mr. Donnelly's case. He was only there for a few days, cause the family fought back and the hospital seemed to give up. They kicked him back out to the emergency room, but he then had a stroke. He was sent to a nursing home, that well, it didn't take particularly good care of him. An investigation was none of that nursing home and and then he was finally sent home.

But he died a few months later, and the family was left feeling that once again, Saint Francis had more or less killed their patriarch. Their father.

Cooper: What is guardianship fraud?

Hallman: So what seems to be happening, and this is like a plague across the country. Big, big cases involving hundreds of people have happened in New York, in Virginia, in Nevada, and in Florida. And there are financial incentives for hospitals and for nursing homes. To take legal control of people who have a lot of resources, they mainly target, you know, individuals who don't have a lot of family or who have a lot of resources and and they can, you know, either take control of the family money or they can wind up getting Medicare or Medicaid money, which means that.

Taxpayers are paying for these seizures, and so what seems to be happening is that this is maybe just getting off the ground here in Oklahoma. It's not widely understood and and so I've come across, you know, you know, attorneys who work in elder care law who've never heard of this and so it's it seems possible that this is only now getting to Oklahoma. But there are hints that there are other investigations.

Q: Did Saint Francis or state agencies respond to the investigation?

Hallman: I reached out to them many times and and when I did finally speak with a public information Officer, I explained I wanted to talk about guardianship issues and and I mentioned the individual Leroy Theater that I wanted to talk about. And I wanted to get to someone who could speak with authority on those subjects, rather than just the public information officer, and I asked for them to get back to me with someone who could speak on those things and and they just never responded.

And we made, you know, multiple outreaches for that first story and multiple outreaches for the second story as well. And not only Saint Francis, but also Adult Protective Services and the Department of Human Services. We're just kind of stonewalled. They did not want to.

Full Article & Source:
Investigation uncovers guardianship concerns at Saint Francis in Tulsa; Hospital issues response

See Also:
Eldercare Nightmare: A Tragic Family Story Raises the Specter of Widespread Guardianship Fraud 

Michigan offers free Power of Attorney forms to help protect older adults

By Crystal Huggins

Free, fillable Power of Attorney forms can now be downloaded directly from the Elder Abuse Task Force’s webpage, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced today. These forms are part of the state’s ongoing effort to protect and empower older adults by providing accessible legal tools at no cost.

These forms help Michigan residents and families designate someone to make financial and medical decisions. They’re useful if a person becomes unable to make decisions on their own.

“These forms will help people exercise their rights and protect themselves and their family members from potential abuse or exploitation,” Nessel said. “We are grateful to the Kimble Center for Legal Drafting for making them accessible to the public.” 

The newly available forms: 

• Finances Power of Attorney: This form lets users decide who makes financial decisions for them if they can’t make them for themselves.
• Medical Power of Attorney: This form lets users decide who makes health-care decisions for them if they can’t make them for themselves. 

These tools are part of a broader initiative to combat elder abuse throughout the state. Launched in 2019, the Elder Abuse Task Force consists of more than 55 organizations from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. More than 100 individuals serve across seven committees and work on nine key initiatives. One initiative requires certification and training for professional guardians.

Among the task force’s notable achievements:

• Creation and statewide implementation of the Vulnerable Adult Incident Report form for law enforcement investigations.
• Development of statewide training for police officers, prosecutors, and Adult Protective Services workers
• Enactment of the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act mandates that financial institutions report suspected fraud or exploitation.
• Expansion of mandatory reporting laws to include financial advisors and securities brokers.

Over 100,000 older adults statewide are victims of elder abuse — experiencing abuse, neglect, or exploitation, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Michigan residents looking for elder abuse resources can call 800-24-ABUSE (22873) or 855-444-3911 to report suspected elder abuse.  

The forms are now accessible on the Elder Abuse Task Force webpage.  

Full Article & Source:
Michigan offers free Power of Attorney forms to help protect older adults 

Forced Treatment Hasn’t Flooded Hospital Emergency Rooms – Yet

County supervisors postponed implementation of a conservatorship state law in response to fears that hospitals could be inundated with new patients.   

by Lisa Halverstadt 

County supervisors postponed implementing a state conservatorship expansion law after hospitals warned it could overwhelm San Diego emergency rooms. 

Yet there hasn’t been a dramatic influx of patients in the months since the county implemented the state law in January, just over a year after supervisors considered whether to immediately implement it or hold off. 

SB 43 aimed to make it easier to force people with severe substance use disorders into treatment. It also allowed holds or conservatorships in instances where someone failed to access needed medical care. The 2023 law gave counties the option to postpone implementation until 2026. San Diego County decided to move forward this January to allow more time to institute training and new services to meet an expected spike in demand for them. The decision drew praise from advocates concerned about patients’ civil liberties and criticism from others including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who argued the region needed another tool to aid people languishing on the streets. 

But a recent county report showed a small drop in involuntary 72-hour holds that many expected to spike after SB 43 took effect in the first three months of 2025 compared with the prior three quarters in 2024. Temporary and longer-term term conservatorships also appeared to be trending down after January, though the county noted its March numbers were incomplete. 

Source: County of San Diego

“The fear we had that there was going to be this huge increase just really hasn’t materialized,” said Steve Koh, chief of clinical psychiatry at UC San Diego Health. 

The county reports that contracted crisis stabilization units it had prepared to take in more patients who might otherwise flood local hospitals also haven’t seen a surge in demand despite the county’s efforts to redirect patients there. 

The county’s now-former behavioral health director had predicted at least a 10 percent spike in short-term holds tied to the new law in its first year based on feedback from police and others. Some activists and behavioral health providers – like hospitals – expected and in some cases, even hoped for, a more dramatic increase.  

County officials are hesitant to pinpoint the reasons for the mismatch between the predictions and reality, noting that it’s been just seven months since the county implemented the expansion. 

“While the county has recently observed decreases in holds and fluctuations in permanent conservatorships, it is still early to clearly understand the impacts of the SB 43 legislation,” county spokesperson Tim McClain wrote in an email. “The county continues to monitor these trends closely.” 

In the county memo, the leader of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency wrote that involuntary holds could “increase over time as providers become more familiar with the revised criteria and adapt operational and clinical practices accordingly.” 

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kim Giardina also wrote that upcoming state updates on insurance reimbursements could also “increase demand for local inpatient (substance use disorder) treatment.” 

The Hospital Association of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the lobbying group for San Diego’s hospitals that urged supervisors to postpone SB 43 implementation, declined to comment for this story. 

Other San Diegans on multiple sides of the issue have similar theories on why SB 43 hasn’t swiftly increased involuntary holds or conservatorships. 

Though the county has inked new contracts to supply more post-hospital options and treatment beds, there’s broad agreement that there still aren’t enough resources – and that police and hospital staff who make the call on holds and conservatorships are still getting up to speed on the new law. 

Koh and others said some clinicians and police officers have been unclear on whether patients meet the new criteria, leaving some to stick with longstanding protocols rather than use new ones under SB 43. 

“I think it’s a complicated thing,” Koh said. “I know there are some folks who don’t want to use it because they don’t think it will lead to anything.” 

Post-hospital placements for patients on temporary holds and longer-term conservatorships remain hard to come by, Koh said, and clinicians can be reluctant to take away patients’ rights to choose their own treatment path without a clear end game.  

San Diego National Alliance on Mental Illness CEO Cathryn Nacario agreed. 

“We still have some infrastructure that needs to be brought online to really support and place people in appropriate facilities and programs,” Nacario said. 

Michelle Routhieaux, who leads San Diego’s Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and regularly assists people in crisis, was concerned about how SB 43 could be misused before it took effect in San Diego County. 

She’s also not surprised by how it’s played out initially.  

After all, Routhieaux said, even patients who want hospital care have long struggled to get it in San Diego County. 

“Either there’s no space for them or the hospital says, ‘You don’t meet criteria,’” she said. 

Linda Mimms, a longtime mental health advocate who rallied behind SB 43, is frustrated and also unsurprised. She thinks more education is needed on the law and that local government agencies, including the county, need to heed it – and supply the services necessary to support people who could be connected to treatment under the expanded law. 

“They just don’t want to bring people in because they don’t have the resources to help them,” Mimms said. 

Full Article & Source:
Forced Treatment Hasn’t Flooded Hospital Emergency Rooms – Yet

Senior Community Center hosting elder abuse awareness program Thursday

By Ryan Richardson

The Senior Community Center of Owensboro-Daviess County is hosting a free public program aimed at raising awareness about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

The informational session begins at 5 p.m. at the Center’s location at 1650 West Second Street. Seniors, their family members, and caregivers are encouraged to attend.

Deborah Middleton, representing Adult Protective Services, will provide information about recognizing and reporting elder abuse and situations/conditions of concern. Captain Jeff Payne of the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office investigations unit and detective Matt Fitzgerald will share insights regarding the investigation process when concerns are reported.

SCC Executive Director David Tucker said the program was created in response to recent allegations of financial exploitation involving an elderly resident in the community. That case, which includes accusations of pawned property, fraudulent bank activity, and forged legal documents, is still pending. Tucker said it came to light after a concerned neighbor reported suspicious behavior, leading to criminal charges.

“Our goal is always to advocate on behalf of seniors and to ensure their protection and well-being,” Tucker said. “We invite all seniors, as well as their caregivers and anyone who loves or is concerned about the welfare of a senior in their life, to join us for this important program.”

Tucker will also highlight SCC initiatives designed to address elder abuse and neglect, including Friendly Visits and wellness checks. 

Full Article & Source:
Senior Community Center hosting elder abuse awareness program Thursday 

FOX5 Investigates Update: Las Vegas woman sentenced for exploiting elderly neighbor

By Lisa Sturgis

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — It’s the final chapter in a case of fraud FOX5 Investigates first told you about in January. Tuesday, a judge sentenced a Las Vegas Valley woman to a much stiffer penalty than typical for exploiting her elderly neighbor and taking everything he owned.

“We have a situation here where you signed legal documents with a power of attorney you never should have had in the first place, where you ran up credit cards, where you stole identity, where your sold a trailer, or mobile home, knowing that it was not yours to sell and planning on keeping the money, so this is a long process of weeks or months,” said Clark County District Court Judge Crystal Eller in addressing Ursula “Bobbi” Lichtenstein.

Judge Eller took prosecutors’ recommendations and sentenced Lichtenstein to nine months in jail plus two years’ probation.

Lichtenstein pleaded guilty to elderly exploitation in May. She sold Robert Cartagena’s mobile home after gaining financial power of attorney. She also disposed of his belongings and drained his bank accounts, leaving him in what his neighbors called hospice care.

Robert Dekken, the manager of the Las Vegas Jaycees Senior Community Park, contacted FOX5 Investigates after Cartagena disappeared from the park, only to surface in the long-term care facility weeks later. More than a year after that, police arrested Lichtenstein, and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office moved forward with an aggressive prosecution. However, they found their sentencing options limited.

“It’s shocking that in Nevada, there is a shocking amount of unlimited money that you can steal from anyone, whether it’s an elderly person or a vulnerable person, any private citizen, anyone, you can steal $50 million from someone, go to trial, get convicted, and it’s still a probational offense,” said the prosecutor.

And the amount stolen from Cartagena was not the only offense of which her neighbors accused her.

“She’s been a persistent threat to the safety, well-being, and integrity of our entire community. She’s harassed staff and residents, manipulated elderly individuals into giving her financial power of attorney over them, and has inserted herself repeatedly into medical emergencies under the guise of helping when in truth her form of help has led to financial control and asset theft,” Dekken told the court.

Residents reported conflicts with Liechtenstein even after the courts ordered her to stay away.

“Ms. Lichtenstein was originally remanded into custody in Justice Court for violating the terms of her release flagrantly and offensively, shockingly offensively,” said the prosecutor. “She refuses to follow any orders given by any court while she’s out of custody. All she had to do was be nice, be nice and avoid the residents of the mobile home park, and she couldn’t do that, she refused.”

Dekken told the court that, at times, it got ugly.

“She has threatened my life on multiple occasions. Blocked me in with her car, I have video of that, pretending to have a weapon by placing both hands in her pockets, attempting to provoke a reaction from me,” he said. “Since I initiated the investigation into Ms. Lichtenstein, she has filed multiple retaliatory complaints against me with Nevada Manufactured Housing and contacted my employer repeatedly in an attempt to have me terminated.”

Multiple former neighbors addressed the court, asking the judge to impose a harsher sentence and to keep Lichtenstein out of their park.

When given a chance to speak, the defendant again denied the accusations despite having entered a guilty plea. The prosecutor noted, she did not offer any apology.

“This is a woman who believes that anything she can get her hands on belongs to her and again feels no remorse for her decisions,” the prosecutor told the court.

Lichtenstein’s attorney argued against jail time, citing positive references from some of her former neighbors, although they did not appear in court on her behalf. The defense also questioned what would be accomplished by jailing a 76-year-old woman. However, Lichtenstein will spend the next nine months in the Clark County Detention Center. 

Meanwhile, Cartagena continues to live in the mobile home park. He’s staying with his estranged wife because the sale of his previous home could not be reversed. He’s awaiting restitution for the $57,000 Lichtenstein admits to taking from his bank accounts.

Dekken says, at one point, the stress from this incident prompted his wife to urge him to quit his job. He’s still overseeing the park and hopes today’s sentencing will afford him and his residents the peace they’ve been seeking for years. 

Full Article & Source:
FOX5 Investigates Update: Las Vegas woman sentenced for exploiting elderly neighbor 

Report: Saint Francis Hospital taking charge of elderly people under contested circumstances

Public Radio Tulsa | By Elizabeth Caldwell 

Editor's note: The headline on this story was updated for clarity. Additionally, Saint Francis claims "the premise of the Oklahoma Watch story [sic] is false. Saint Francis Health System is in a financially sound position and is not instituting cost saving measures beyond what any other health system is doing right now as we anticipate federal revenue changes." In response, Oklahoma Watch says it has never been contacted by Saint Francis to address these complaints.

Reports from news outlet Oklahoma Watch detail how Tulsa's Saint Francis Hospital is “disappearing” elderly patients. KWGS' Elizabeth Caldwell sat down with reporter JC Hallman of Oklahoma Watch to learn more. Listen above or read below a transcript created on rush. The authoritative record is considered to be the audio.

ELIZABETH CALDWELL: Well, welcome to the studio, JC.

JC HALLMAN: Hi.

EC: And you've been writing about Saint Francis Hospital effectively seizing adults from their families, older adults from their families. You've written two articles. Right?

JH: Yeah.

EC: For Oklahoma Watch?

JH: Yes.

EC: Can you tell us about the first one?

JH: Yeah. So this came in as as a tip, just a spontaneous tip. A family of a man who is an elderly Vietnam vet who had a couple of strokes and been left a quadriplegic.

He had been taken by Saint Francis for lack of a better term. And they had not seen him in quite a while. His family had been caring for him, and they had already wound up in a kind of fight with Saint Francis and with Adult Protective Services, the Department of Human Services of Oklahoma. And they wound up not knowing where their loved one, their father was. So I was mainly communicating with these two sisters and they reached out to me because they had nowhere else to turn.

They had tried the usual sources that you're supposed to go to with these kinds of complaints when something happens, and nothing was really working.

EC: Can you name names? What sources had they tried?

JH: Well, they tried Adult Protective Services. They tried the health department.

They were calling around. They were talking to attorneys and they called the police even when when Saint Francis sort of refused to let them on the grounds of the hospital. There had been previous complaints about whether they were taking proper care of of their father. His name was Leroy Theodore. He was a Vietnam veteran.

But those complaints had been investigated and they had been found to not be substantiated. Nevertheless, the next time that Mister Theodore, as a result of difficulty breathing, was taken to Saint Francis, they attempted to initiate an effort to get guardianship or to take guardianship away. In that case, there was dueling guardianships because the family won a guardianship order out of Creek County and then the hospital won a guardianship order out of Tulsa County. So there was a bit of a standoff. And all this time, they didn't know where Mister Theodore was.

In our coverage, we eventually did learn that they sent him to a nursing home in in Midwest City. We went out there, and there was a confrontation with police that I documented in the first of the two stories I've written about all of this.

EC: And to be clear, Midwest City is not near Tulsa. Is it?

JH: Exactly.

That was part of the issue is that they now suddenly had to drive two, two and a half hours just to see their loved one.

EC: And how did you find out that he was there?

JH: Eventually, the standoff over the dueling guardianships resulted in court filings that the family had access to, which indicated where he was. They didn't volunteer that. You know, I have to say both Saint Francis and Adult Protective Services and the Department of Human Services have been just an absolute stone wall.

They have refused to talk, refused to comment. And, it has been very, very difficult to find out anything. Oklahoma law on guardianship is very, very strict compared to other states. And so even though in other states, a whole plague of these kinds of guardianship seizures for financial gain on behalf of hospitals and nursing homes are happening all across the country, in Nevada and in New York. It's much harder to document in Oklahoma because the laws are the way they are and because hospitals and administrators will hide behind the HIPAA laws, which are in place to protect patients, but can be used to mask the unsavory behavior of administrators and actors who don't have their patients’ interests at heart.

EC: Is he still there?

JH: Yeah. I believe he's still at this at this nursing home in in Midwest City, and the battle is ongoing. You know, we published that story a couple of months ago now, and there's been one since. But their fight for their father is ongoing.

EC: Okay. I wanna get to the why, but let's talk about the second story first, which is very similar. Right? Was the second story a result of the first one?

JH: You know, a couple more stories have come about and more since since that second story has been published. In the second case, it was prior to Mister Theodore. That case was happening sort of in the last couple of months. The case I heard about second was one that happened back in 2021, and that was also a man who had served during the Vietnam War.

He was an Alzheimer's patient, and he was taken to Saint Francis. And they immediately sent him to Laureate, the attached psychiatric facility. We'd heard from an unnamed source inside of Saint Francis for the first story that this is something that Saint Francis is doing, that they're sending people to Laureate to hide them. That is what our unnamed source, we know who that person is, but we haven't named them. They don't want to be named.

But, what they are saying is that this has happened as many as 15 times. And it appeared that this case, a man named Ken Donley had been perhaps one of those cases. It was a pair of sisters, his daughters, Donna and Diana Donley, who reached out and wanted to tell the story about how their father was sent to Laureate and then kinda kicked out when they fought back because they already had medical power of attorney.

And what happened with Mister Donley was tragic because they, without fanfare, kicked him out of Laureate back to the hospital where he promptly had a stroke. And then he had to go into a nursing home that was also found to be inadequate as a result of Donna Donley’s complaint to the health department.

And then eventually, he did come home, but he died a couple of months later. The Donley daughters were left feeling that pretty much Saint Francis had killed their father. They're not making a legal accusation in that regard, but, they definitely feel like this action of taking Mister Donley and putting him in Laureate was a trauma. They actually documented and showed me pictures. When he came out, he had marks on his wrists and his ankles that looked to have been caused by straps that were being used to detain him while he was at Laureate.

EC: And it was inappropriate. He didn't have any psychiatric conditions or?

JH: Yeah. Alzheimer's is not a psychiatric condition. And yet they sent him to a psychiatric facility. And again, Saint Francis they are not talking about it.

EC: They won't give you any reason.

JH: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, U.S. News just named Saint Francis the best hospital in Oklahoma, but, you know, on the ground here, there are are many, many people who have expressed concerns, about this and other kinds of issues there. And they've done it multiple times to multiple people.

EC: That’s what your source is telling you.

JH: Yeah. Right.

EC: So now, why? What they're getting is money for taking care of these, taking care in quotes, of these folks?

JH: The same source told us about mysterious changes that are afoot at Saint Francis about employees and doctors who are leaving en masse because they've been asked to do things they're not comfortable doing. Again, these are the charges that are leveled by this unnamed source. But it seems like things are are afoot there.

Laureate, the psychiatric facility, just recently announced, an expansion from 45 beds to 60 beds. I've been out there. You can see the construction happening. You do have to wonder, well, are they are they having money problems? Is there a money crunch that's happening there?

And so in Mister Donley's case even though he was only at Laureate for five days, and it was a failed attempt to seize control of him, they actually filed with the courts to to take him and then had to withdraw it when the daughters fought back. They charged $12,000 for those five days. $10,000 of that was covered by Medicare, which means taxpayers paid for this.

And that's one case. We've heard it's happening a lot of times. In other states, we know it's happening hundreds of times. Reporting from from Richmond and from ProPublica documents hundreds of cases. There are journalists who get on to this kind of a story and just stay on it for years and years and years, and I haven't done that. I've just written two shorter pieces.

But, you know, if you take Mister Donley's case, $10,000 for five days, and you expand that out, you see it can really, really add up to a lot of money that the hospital could be making.

And I've spoken to organizations that that combat guardianship abuse across the country. And they've pointed out that the legal system, attorneys and judges too possibly, could be financially incentivized to perpetuate a system that sees vulnerable adults being seized for nefarious purposes. So it's not just the hospital.

EC: It could be a network.

JH: Yeah. I mean, it is a systemic issue, and lots of different players have a financial incentive. I think it's also worth pointing out that this is probably gonna get worse. Our own source said another one of these these seizures happened as recently as July 10, just a few weeks ago.

And we know nothing about that individual or what happened. The truth is is that the population is aging. There's just been stories written about how in in a few years time, the number of people 65 in Oklahoma is going to outnumber children. So the potential for these kinds of abuses is only gonna grow over time.

EC: And we should probably mention Saint Francis as a nonprofit health care system. Right?

JH: don't know that that exonerates them from anything. You would think as a nonprofit that they would be more willing to talk about what they're doing. But once again, they have just been absolutely close mouthed. They're not talking about it.

EC: That was me, KWGS' Elizabeth Caldwell, speaking to Oklahoma Watch reporter JC Hallman about allegations around Saint Francis Hospital seizing elderly patients for financial gain.

Be sure to visit our website, publicradiotulsa.org, and check us out on social media. This is 89.5 KWGS, KWGS News.

Source:
Report: Saint Francis Hospital taking charge of elderly people under contested circumstances 

Pee Dee man arrested after alleged repeated abuse of disabled grandmother

A man was arrested after multiple reports of alleged abuse of his grandmother, deputies say. 

Source:
Pee Dee man arrested after alleged repeated abuse of disabled grandmother  

Tree trimmer arrested again, accused of swindling Gwinnett seniors | WSB-TV

A 30-year-old tree trimmer who allegedly targets elderly homeowners is back behind bars after turning himself in on new theft charges. 

Source:
Tree trimmer arrested again, accused of swindling Gwinnett seniors | WSB-TV 

District Attorney reconsiders elder abuse case

Source:
District Attorney reconsiders elder abuse case 

Virginia woman accused of stealing $50k from elderly person in Lancaster County: police

by Sarah Burns 

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Police are investigating after a Virginia woman was accused in May of financially exploiting an elderly person in Lancaster County.

According to the West Lampeter Police Department, Margaret Christel, 34, of Falls Church, VA stole or altered numerous checks worth $50,000 from the elderly person.

An investigation into the theft allegedly carried on through July 21, when Christel was charged.

She reportedly turned herself in to police on July 25.

Christel has been charged with financial exploitation of an older adult, according to police.

Full Article & Source:
Virginia woman accused of stealing $50k from elderly person in Lancaster County: police 

Indiana county POA charged with financial exploitation of an elderly woman

Source:
Indiana county POA charged with financial exploitation of an elderly woman 

Earlville man sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing $1.2M from person with dementia

By Eric Schelkopf

July 28, 2025 at 6:00 am CDT

A former financial advisor has been sentenced in Kendall County to six years in prison after pleading guilty to financially exploiting an elderly client over several years.

Kendall County Judge Jody Gleason on July 22 handed down the sentence. In April, Bradley Goodbred, 57, formerly of Plano and whose residence is listed as Earlville, entered a blind plea to financial exploitation of an elderly person, which is a felony.

The matter then proceeded to a contested sentencing hearing in front of Gleason, according to a news release from Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis.

In 2022, Goodbred was charged with the theft of more than $1.2 million from an elderly client over eight years. According to the original federal court filing against Goodbred, the victim had dementia and was 97 at the time Goodbred was charged.

“The elderly can, at times, be one of the most vulnerable segments of society as they can feel helpless and ashamed in these types of crimes,” Weis said following the sentence. “Without the commitment of all agencies involved to the protection of the public, the victim of this crime would not have seen justice. The court in sentencing the defendant to prison sends a message that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in Kendall County.”

In January 2021, the court-appointed guardian of the victim reported to the Yorkville Police Department that Goodbred had been taking advantage of the elder victim over a period of time, Weis said in the release.

During the investigation into the case, Yorkville police learned that Goodbred had been a financial planner and advisor to the victim when he was working at LPL Financial. In June 2010, there was a financial power of attorney signed appointing Goodbred as the victim’s power of attorney, according to the release.

Goodbred had an additional company and persuaded the victim to “invest” in his company, according to the release. Through his employment as the victim’s financial advisor, Goodbred approved the request for monies to be withdrawn from her trust account, which were then placed into the victim’s checking account, according to the release.

From there, checks would be written to Goodbred’s company and Goodbred would then transfer those funds to his own personal account, Weis said in the release. None of the money that was transferred from the victim’s accounts was used for her benefit, he said.

The court remarked when handing down Goodbred’s six-year sentence that a term of probation would deprecate the seriousness of the offense, according to the release.

Goodbred‘s sentence will require him to serve one year of mandatory supervised release, formerly known as parole. 

Full Article & Source:
Earlville man sentenced to 6 years in prison for stealing $1.2M from person with dementia 

Residents of assisted living facility concerned after being given notice to vacate

WPTV is told the facility is being sold for financial reasons. 

Source:
 Residents of assisted living facility concerned after being given notice to vacate

How is artificial intelligence helping to diagnose dementia?

How is artificial intelligence helping diagnose dementia?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how dementia is diagnosed. Artificial intelligence experts at Mayo Clinic have developed one approach focused on finding patterns in brain activity that may be hard to recognize with the human eye. AI tools can analyze brain scans and compare them to large databases to find patterns linked to specific types of dementia. This process can lead to earlier, faster and more-accurate diagnoses — even for people who don't have access to specialized medical centers and dementia experts.

A recent study tested StateViewer, an AI tool developed by researchers at Mayo Clinic to help diagnose dementia. The tool analyzes a type of brain scan called a fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), which shows how different parts of the brain use sugar, also called glucose, for energy. Areas of the brain that are impacted by dementia tend to use less sugar. The FDG-PET scan highlights the areas where the brain uses less sugar, which can point to the type of dementia causing the symptoms. If the scan shows reduced sugar use in the areas of the brain involved in solving problems and remembering, for example, that can be an indicator of Alzheimer's disease.

StateViewer compares a scan to a large database of more than 3,600 FDG-PET scans from people already diagnosed with different types of dementia. By spotting patterns in brain activity and glucose usage, it can help identify different dementia types.

In the study, StateViewer correctly identified the dementia type 88% of the time. It also helped doctors reach a diagnosis faster than when using traditional methods. The tool is helpful in distinguishing between dementia types with similar symptoms, such as Lewy body dementia and posterior cortical atrophy.

StateViewer looks for patterns in brain activity and creates a color-coded brain map that provides a visual image of the affected areas in the brain. Healthcare professionals reviewing the scans can use these images to help diagnose types of dementia.

AI tools like StateViewer are designed to support — not replace — clinical decision-making. They offer a fast, consistent way to sort through complex information and give healthcare professionals more tools to help determine an accurate diagnosis.

The next steps are to determine whether AI tools may help detect dementia earlier, inform treatment plans and bring expert-level diagnostic support to more healthcare settings, including those without access to dementia specialists. 

Full Article & Source:
How is artificial intelligence helping to diagnose dementia?