Feds: Washington State DSHS Neglected Disabled to Cut Costs, May Owe $16 M

In an attempt to save money, Washington state has been illegally denying needed services to two dozen developmentally disabled residents for more than two years, according to a recently completed federal review.

The move was meant to save more than $1 million. But breaking the law may cost the state $16 million — and may have done irreparable damage to the residents, advocates say.

The review found the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) broke the law at least 41,231 times by deciding in 2011 to take away services such as physical therapy, personal-care training and recreation from 27 of the residents at Spokane County’s Lakeland Village.

In a Nov. 7 letter to state officials, Carol Peverly of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cited requirements that federally funded long-term care facilities provide the specialized services residents need.

“After a review of all evidence and correspondence, we find that Lakeland Village nursing facility is not in compliance,” Peverly wrote, adding that the removal of services “violated federal law, and as a consequence the state has received (federal funds) in error.”

Peverly wrote that the feds want their money back, and also plan to examine other DSHS facilities.

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Feds: DSHS neglected disabled to cut costs, may owe $16M

Linda Kincaid Reports: Elder Abuse by Monterey County Public Guardian: Court Order for Isolation

San Francisco resident Margarita Zelada is unlawfully confined and isolated at Senior Paradise in Del Rey Oaks, California. The false imprisonment is at the order of the Monterey County Public Guardian.

Elder rights advocates across the country are protesting the violation of rights and abuse of power. Senior Paradise is under investigation by Department of Social Services.

The Public Guardian responded by petitioning the court for an order to legitimize their ongoing abuse.

The petition is on calendar for Wednesday, November 20, 2013. If signed, the order will strip Margarita of her constitutional right to liberty and pursuit of happiness.


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Elder Abuse by Monterey County Public Guardian: Court Order for Isolation

Lawsuit Cites a DSS Report Criticizing Providence Place of DePaul ALF

The state ordered an assisted living center near DePaul Medical Center to make changes last year after an investigation found the facility failed to protect patients from an aggressive resident.

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.

The alleged attack occurred June 9, 2012. Emily Steele, 81, a patient with dementia, lived in the special care unit near a man known to be aggressive toward residents he believed had entered his room, according to the suit.

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

Hampton facility one step closer to losing license

Hearing officer is 'haunted by the tragic images of residents … This is a sad place to live … its doors must close.'

 

Ashwood Assisted Living in Hampton has moved one step closer to losing its license to operate. Eighty one residents with various physical and psychological impairments, all dependent on state auxiliary grants, live in conditions that the state has reported as putting them "at risk for their health, safety and welfare" for more than two years.

Three months after a May 30 hearing, closed at the request of owner Scott Schuett, hearing officer Sarah Smith Freeman sent her recommendation supporting revocation to the commissioner of the Department of Social Services for a final ruling. The 10-day period allowing for objections from both sides — the DSS and Schuett — ended Friday with no input from either, according to Freeman.

"This Hearing Officer is haunted by the tragic images of the residents who were questioned or observed during the inspections — the terminally ill resident, locked in a Geri chair and left to die over his eating tray, the female resident whose fingernails were worn and dirty with her own waste and the man who did not know he deserved to wear shoes even if his feet were quite wide. … This is a sad place to live. … The facility has come to its logical end and its doors must close," Freeman wrote in her 46-page recommendation.

Commissioner Margaret Ross Schultze, who answered questions via email, but was unavailable for comment in person, has 30 days to respond. According to Joron Moore, agency spokesperson, there's a possible extension of another 30 days. However, Freeman assured, "This one is going to generate a timely response."

The Department of Social Services, which oversees assisted living facilities in the state, first issued a notice of its intent to revoke Ashwood's license in June 2012. The home's temporary license expired more than a year ago, in August 2012. During the extended appeals process, it has remained open as inspection reports by the DSS have continued to enumerate violations that range from medication mismanagement to bed bug infestations to unsafe conditions.

Until recently, Schuett, who was stripped of his administrator's license in December 2012, operated six assisted living facilities in the region. All but Ashwood and Chesapeake Home in Chesapeake have now closed.

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Hampton facility one step closer to losing license