State working through backlog of care facility investigations

By Brian Tabick

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals said it was making up for the lost time when it comes to inspecting care facilities.

The DIA said it was not allowed to conduct surveys during the 2020 pandemic so care facilities could learn to navigate COVID-19. The DIA interacts with and investigates care facilities in several different ways. A surveyor can show up unannounced to investigate, or people can fill out a complaint for the state to investigate.

“It’s not uncommon to see these problems,” said Marcia Southwick, a Director with the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse.

She hears complaints about the DIA year-round but said that number went up since the 2020 pandemic.

“We’re all going to get old; you have to think about what you want for your elders,” she said.

The DIA said it had followed the state’s guidance to start catching back up, but the state’s Long Term Care Ombudsman, Angela Van Pelt, said it had dire consequences.

“We had some sad stories,” she said. “Staffing issues got to a point where sometimes a complaint would come in, and four months later the same administrator wasn’t there.”

Van Pelt said they were seeing more than double the complaints this year as in years prior. She said that was because of a lack of state inspectors, nursing facilities not being able to hire and train staff but also many care facilities closing.

“The system is overwhelmed,” she said. “Because of the closures, there were complaints of people not responding to requests for assistance, maybe that’s call lights, and also personal hygiene issues.”

Van Pelt said they were seeing 2-4 facilities closing each month. A total of 55-closed this year. She said she hopes families do research on nursing facilities before making it their home.

“Look at what kind of facility, she said. Is it privately owned that’s been there for 20 years,” said Van Pelt. Or, is it owned by a corporation?”

Van Pelt said people can file complaints on the state’s website and can use the Medicaid Nursing facilities.

https://dia.iowa.gov/health-facilities

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State working through backlog of care facility investigations

Caregivers relieved, but cautious about eased restrictions for care facilities

By Lucinda Breeding

Amber Reynolds

For the families of Texans living in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to lift restrictions on visitation came not a moment too soon.

“Certainly it’s been difficult, regardless of what the level is with your abilities,” said Mike Danks, president of the Denton State Supported Living Center Family Association.

Danks and his wife haven’t seen their adult daughter, whom they preferred not to name publicly, since the first week of March. She has severe autism, and the Danks found the private homes inadequate to care for her. Without proper supervision and a careful medication schedule, their daughter has a tendency to have violent outbursts. The Danks said they found DSSLC a better fit.

Like other Texas families with loved ones in care facilities, the Danks have had to make do with video chats. Their daughter will interact by phone for a short time, and is accustomed to video calls with her grandparents.

“If you’ve got family and you can’t visit them, it’s difficult,” Danks said. “It’s been difficult for us because we haven’t been able to visit her. And it’s difficult because we haven’t been able to see mom and dad, either. I think it’s tough across the board.”

As of Thursday, Abbott’s orders allowed families to designate up to two essential family caregivers to get the necessary training to safely go inside a facility for a scheduled visit. The order allows the designated caregivers to enter the resident’s room.

The order is the first to allow designated caregivers this degree of access “to help ensure their loved one’s physical, social, and emotional needs are being met” since the state-mandated lockdown in March.

Designated caregivers don’t have to practice physical distancing, but only one caregiver can visit a resident at a time.

Angela Biggs made sure she had a negative COVID-19 test, which is required along with personal protection equipment training, so she could see her daughter on Thursday. She wore safety glasses and a mask. She arrived at the center with flowers and cupcakes.

“She definitely knew it was me,” said Biggs, whose daughter, Amber Reynolds, 29, has lived since at the center since 2014. Amber suffered a brain injury at birth and, after years of seeking treatment, was diagnosed with severe mental retardation and severe bipolar disorder with psychosis.

“I used that moment. I looked at Amber and I said ‘Amber, look at me eye-to-eye. I thought about you and prayed for you every day.’ And I made her say ‘day.’ I told her ‘I couldn’t come in, Amber.’”

Biggs said she was careful not to mention the staff, whom she praises and says give her daughter love and care. She didn’t want to risk Amber getting angry at the men and women who have taken care of her throughout seven months of lockdown. In March, the center was hit hard by the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Biggs said she was able to give her daughter the flowers — Amber loves yellow, and grinned over the bright, mostly yellow bouquet. The staff had to inspect the cupcakes to comply with pandemic health and safety rules.

Biggs could only stay for an hour and a half. She spent the short time chatting with her daughter, trimming her nails and inspecting her room for clues about how Amber fared without consistent, face-to-face contact with her mother.

“She’s not sleeping in her bed,” Biggs said. “She’s been sleeping on her couch. She’s not keeping warm. I can just tell this has been hard on her.”

Olivia Lilley and her husband, Bryan, have been caring for Bryan’s 88-year-old mother, Marylin, since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease years ago. Marilyn lived next door to her son just outside of Aubrey for years — until her disease progressed to the point when round-the-clock supervision was needed.

In 2012, the Lilleys moved Marilyn into Willowbend Assisted Living & Memory Care in Denton. Olivia said her mother is still in the assisted living portion of the facility, where she has her own room. Marilyn’s condition causes her to self-isolate, and her memory seems to last for less than a minute. Lilley said she and her husband visited almost daily before the pandemic. Bryan works for Fox Sports covering the NFL, and when he travels for work Olivia takes over her mother-in-law’s care.

Olivia said her family couldn’t do without the love and care of the staff and director of Willowbend.

“They’re doing absolutely everything they can,” Olivia said. “We know that. Their hands are tied by the governor’s orders. It’s just so frustrating, and back at the end of August Byran and I were at the end or our rope. We were thinking about breaking her out.”

The Lilleys had good reason to be alarmed. Willowbend decided to close its dining room to protect vulnerable residents. The residents suddenly had to stay in their rooms at all times.

Olivia was glad she and her husband had mounted a camera in the living area of her mother’s room. But what she saw was frightening. Marilyn didn’t seem to understand her meals were being brought to the room. She wasn’t eating, and eventually, she was sitting on her floor, playing solitaire from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. She was losing weight and growing agitated.

“She called my husband and asked, ‘When are you coming to get me?’” Olivia said. “He was so heartbroken. You have to meet people with Alzheimer’s where they are, and he told her ‘I’m coming, mom.’ Then we watched her pack up entire room. She took pictures off the wall. She found the camera and took it down. She did that a few times. She packed up her whole room and waited for him to come pick her up.”

The Lilleys have taken advantage of the gradual easing of restrictions. They’ve done window visits and porch visits.

“Before COVID-19, I’d take her to get her hair done once a week. It was a chance for her to get a really good shampoo, and it was with a hairdresser who loves her and knows how to talk to her. Like, she knows to talk to her and not just ignore her and talk to me,” Olivia said. “I’m sorry to get emotional, but it’s been hard to hear middle aged women talking about needing to get their nails done. My mother-in-law hasn’t had a haircut in seven months. It breaks my husband’s heart to see her looking so unkempt.”

Olivia said her family is trying to decide whether to leave Marilyn in assisted living. With flu season approaching, the Lilleys worry that Marilyn will once again be shut in her room, where she can’t see or hug loved ones.

Caregivers live with competing feelings: They praise the staff and directors of the facilities for doing their best to care for resident and comply with the state. But they and the government can’t satisfy infuriating questions that keep loved ones from the routines they need.

“I just want someone to tell me, how long is a negative test good?” Biggs said. “You do everything in your power to keep your child safe. You can’t do everything.”

Danks said the rules aren’t a guarantee.

“The way I look at it, the negative test is good until I walk out the door of the place you got the test,” Danks said. “But the negative test is a little better than no test at all. There’s no perfect world.”

Olivia said Abbott simply can’t understand what caregivers are going through, and they don’t seem to imagine what the lockdown has done to Texas’ most vulnerable residents.

“What would Gov. Abbott do if he was locked in a room and his wheelchair was taken from him? I want to know,” she said. “Because that’s what our loved ones have been living. Everyone wants to protect this group of people. I totally get that. ‘This is the Greatest Generation,’ they say. ‘They must be protected at all costs.’ But what is the cost? Because this is prison. I’m sorry, but it just is. And what’s going to happen this winter? We can’t do another lockdown with my mother-in-law.”

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Caregivers relieved, but cautious about eased restrictions for care facilities

State Attempts To Shut Down Care Facilities After Seniors’ Deaths

ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — California regulators are cracking down on two assisted living homes after seniors were left alone in the sun and later died. 

The two incidents took place just months apart last year at facilities in Roseville and in Chico. Now, the state is taking legal action to get their licenses revoked. 

The state says staff at Meadow Oaks assisted living facility of Roseville on Oak Ridge Drive, failed to provide proper care and supervision that ultimately led to Gene Roger’s death. The staff worker mentioned in their complaint has a number of warrants out for her arrest, raising questions about the facility’s hiring practices. 

Eighty-three-year-old Gene Rogers was a Marine who fought in Korea. He later went on to coach youth football and raised three boys during his 60 years of marriage. On June 30, 2018, he became gravely ill.

“The hospital called and said he was almost dead when he arrived,” said his son Jeff. 

Jeff said his father was rushed to the hospital while in the care of nurses and staff at Meadow Oaks.

“He was unconscious, they had to bag him with a cooling bag, his skin temperature was 103 something,” he said. 

Gene was in a wheelchair and had dementia. The staff at the time told his family that he had wandered outside in the blazing sun, and staff later found him unresponsive. An explanation Jeffs family did not accept. 

“They cooked him to death, they put him out there, a person in his 80’s who’s not supposed to have severe heat exposure,” said Jeff. 

According to a complaint filed by the CA Department of Social Services, Rogers was left, “unattended for a prolonged period of time outside in the sun and heat. This resulted in the client suffering dehydration and heatstroke and ultimately led to the client’s death…“ 

Carole Herman is the President of the Foundation Aiding the Elderly (FATE), a non-profit that protects the rights of the elderly.

“To leave that man on the patio is inexcusable and they should lose their license over this,” said Herman.

Herman said her biggest concern is lack of enforcement at these facilities. 

“To shut down a facility is not common, and it rarely happens, and so that just tells you how egregious this was,” said Herman. 

Gene’s death came just two months after another patient died in Chico at a care home owned by the same group based in San Diego: Westmont Living. 

Now California regulators are taking action to revoke the licenses of both facilities.

“I want justice for my father, and I want to prevent this from happening to anyone else,” said Jeff. 

Since the incidents, Meadow Oaks is now under new management.

A spokesperson for the new group released the following statement: “First, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Rogers. Integral Senior Living took over management of Meadow Oaks of Roseville on July 1, 2019. Because we were not involved with the community at the time of this unfortunate incident, we feel it would be inappropriate to comment on the circumstance,” said Carrie DelaneyDivisional Vice President of Sales & Marketing. 

CBS13 reached out to Westmont Living, based in La Jolla, but have not gotten a response. Lawyers for the company filed an answer with the state denying the allegations. They have requested a hearing. That date has not yet been set. 

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State Attempts To Shut Down Care Facilities After Seniors’ Deaths