Woman in Phoenix senior living facility dies after being beaten by another resident

Arizona assisted living facilities and nursing homes aren't required to track violent incidents among residents, leaving seniors vulnerable. Two women have been murdered and many more seniors have been injured in Arizona senior living facilities. These steps could help make them safer.

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Woman in Phoenix senior living facility dies after being beaten by another resident

Caretaker, 33, arrested on suspicion of raping 87-year-old woman with dementia at Santa Ana senior living facility

A 33-year-old caretaker suspected of raping an 87-year-old woman with dementia at a senior living facility in Santa Ana has been arrested, authorities said Friday. 

Juan Sandoval is seen in a photo released by
 the Santa Ana Police Department.

The sexual assault was reported at the Sunflower Gardens Senior Living Facility shortly after 12:35 p.m. Thursday, according to a Santa Ana Police Department news release.

Earlier that day, the suspect, Juan Sandoval of Orange, had allegedly grabbed the victim while she was in a hallway and then sexually assaulted her in a bedroom. The assault was interrupted when another caretaker walked by the room — which still had its door open — and observed what was happening, police said.

Sandoval then got dressed and left the bedroom while the witness went to a supervisor to report the incident, according to the release.

Police arrested Sandoval at the facility, where he was still working when they arrived at the scene.

He was booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of rape, elder abuse and kidnapping with intent to commit rape, and is behind held on $1 million.

Detectives interviewed over 40 residents at the facility but did not find any other victims, according to police. They said all of the residents living there “have some form of Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.”

Sandoval had worked at the facility for three years, according to detectives.

Investigators are looking for any other potential victims and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Corona by calling 714-245-8343 or emailing GCorona@santa-ana.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Orange County Crime Stoppers by dialing 1-855-847-6227.

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Caretaker, 33, arrested on suspicion of raping 87-year-old woman with dementia at Santa Ana senior living facility

Nursing home residents offer weekly words of wisdom amid the pandemic: 'You can’t take your money with you, so spend it at the pub'

by Megan Sims

These seniors at Waratah Lodge are sharing their thoughts on various topic, much to the delight of social media. (Photo: Orbost Regional Health)

With the global health pandemic putting countless lives on pause, Waratah Lodge, a senior living facility in Australia has been keeping their residents busy providing words of wisdom on social media. The commentary has ranged from relationship advice to money-saving tips, often served with a dash of wit.

In the photos shared on social media, seniors at the home in Orbost, Victoria can be seen holding up dry erase boards that show the topic, their name, age and the advice they have decided to share. In one photo, Tom, 88, offers this financial tidbit: “You can’t take your money with you, so spend it at the pub.”

In another photo, Aileen, 90, offers marriage advice: “Try before you buy.” Meanwhile, 89-year-old Lora warns, “Don’t do it.”

Jo Marshall, the director of clinical and aged care services at Orbost Regional Health, tells Yahoo Life that the project started off as a one-off opportunity for seniors to impart words of wisdom for younger generations. But with their first post on June 16 getting thousands of shares and comments, they decided to make it a weekly activity.

“The residents have loved the activity and get very excited when shown the comments that they have received,” Marshall says. “They have a sense of pride that they are contributing to some positivity in an otherwise fairly stressful time. [And] the reactions have been wonderful, with comments such as ‘please keep these coming, they are the only brightness in a dull world,’ and ‘these guys are so inspiring.’”

Marshall says that they have had to put restrictions into play at Waratah Lodge, along with their other senior care facility, Lochiel House. Some of these restrictions include only allowing residents to leave for essential reasons and limiting access to visitors. Employees have also been required to wear masks and have been vaccinated for influenza.

“The care needs of the elderly in each facility are different and this means that the activities they do are tailored to their needs, interests and abilities,” Marshall says. “We have tried to discuss the pandemic but not constantly. Our staff have worked with family members to connect with residents in other ways including Skype and FaceTime.”

In the meantime, Marshall says that they hope to continue the weekly words of wisdom project until the residents no longer enjoy doing it, or they run out of questions. She adds that the “very resilient” seniors even have inspiring words about the current state of the world: “They comment that this pandemic isn’t so bad, they have lived through worse!”

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Nursing home residents offer weekly words of wisdom amid the pandemic: 'You can’t take your money with you, so spend it at the pub'

Son shares grave warning, alleges negligence, abuse at Greenville senior living facility

by Madeleine Hackett

Click to Watch Video

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A lawsuit filed last month alleges negligence and abuse inside Rolling Green Village, a memory care assisted living facility located on Hoke Smith Boulevard in Greenville.

According to the lawsuit, Doris Robson, a memory care patient, suffered numerous suspicious injuries which were caused by abuse and/or neglect from Rolling Green Village. The lawsuit states that those injuries include rib fractures, collapsed lung, dehydration, weight loss, humiliation and loss of dignity.

Madeleine Hackett

doris robson in hospital with punctured lung

Doris Robson’s son tells WYFF News 4 that it was a black eye that ultimately spurred him to place a camera inside his mom’s room.

“When I saw her black eye, which was a perfect shiner… a perfect circular shiner around her eye... it looked like someone had took a boxing glove and punched her straight in the eye, and that’s when I said ‘OK, enough.’”

When Robson asked staff about the injuries, he said managers at the facility evaded his questions.

“When I started questioning the staff about it, it was more of a ‘Well, we don’t know what happened, this could have happened at night…’” Robson said.

So Robson purchased a Nest camera from a local store and placed it inside his mother’s room.

“I placed it in there, I didn’t tell anybody about it in there. I didn’t hide it. I didn’t announce it, but I didn’t hide it…” Robson said. “If you saw it, it would be in plain view, it was atop her bookshelf.”
According to the lawsuit:

“When Iain Robson obtained the video, he found evidence of multiple staff members handling Doris Robson very roughly and abusing/neglecting her in her room. As a result, Iain Robson contacted the administration again at the Defendants’ facility and notified them and the police department was also notified whereupon the police arrested and charged two of the Defendants’ employees in connection with their actions and neglect of Doris Robson. On May 21, 2019, the nurse practitioner assessed and evaluated Doris Robson in part due to the neglect and abuse reported by Iain Robson and noted that there were multiple areas of discoloration about her body including, but not limited to, bruises and skin tears to her mid-back, discoloration to her left hip which extended to the knee, bruising and discoloration to her right hip, right forearm, and left foot.”

Rolling Green Village issued this statement to WYFF 4:

“The safety and security of our Rolling Green Village family is paramount, and we’re devastated this happened to one of our residents. In no way should this reflect the character of the professionals at our community, or the quality of the services we’ve provided over the course of the last 30 years.

“It’s our standard policy to conduct thorough background checks on all employees prior to hiring them. We found nothing criminal in their past. The employees charged in this investigation have been terminated.

“We followed all of the proper legal and law enforcement procedures in this case. Our team appropriately notified the Department of Health and the Sheriff’s Department within the time limits required by the regulations.

“While the investigation is still underway, we will refrain from any additional comment at this time.”

To read the full lawsuit, you can visit: https://www2.greenvillecounty.org/SCJD/PublicIndex/PIImageDisplay.aspx?ctagency=23002&doctype=D&docid=1594924754432-189&HKey=801051079910779558512150111437056121119112989880114103778189838453975211978834773116741018611212087103&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

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Son shares grave warning, alleges negligence, abuse at Greenville senior living facility

Family says senior living facility lying about 83-year-old father's death

ROSEVILLE, Calif — Gene Rogers, 83, had dementia and was unable to get around on his own. His round-the-clock care became too much for his wife, Kathryn, to handle by herself. So, the couple’s children sold their parents’ home in Carlsbad, Calif., and placed Gene in Meadow Oaks of Roseville, a senior living community, on Dec 30, 2017.

Gene was a Marine and a veteran of the Korean War. He loved golfing and stock car racing. He spent decades working for AT&T while supporting a family of five. His family says while his dementia affected his ability to get around, he was still smart and enjoyed life.

Their son, Jeff, says the family expected his father’s care to be long term. They chose Meadow Oaks because they were impressed by what they saw when they went to visit. They were also happy the price was well below the $10,000-a-month price tags they saw in the San Diego area. At first, the family was very satisfied. However, Jeff says things quickly changed.

“I noticed his care would start going downhill,” Jeff explained. “You could see he had food stains on his clothes. We'd go there a few times on the weekends and he would be outside on the patio. It was warm. He'd seem groggy and he was slurring his speech a little bit.”

Jeff says the family repeatedly asked the facility not to leave Gene outside unattended, but it kept happening.

“His nephew came in from Oklahoma,” Jeff said. “We found him, again, outside on the patio. Again, he seemed like he was a little bit groggy. We brought him back in and again asked the staff, ‘Hey, you know, I think you guys are leaving him out here too long.'”

ABC10 reached out to Westmont Living, the La Jolla-based company that operates Meadow Oaks. They issued a statement saying, "This case is in litigation, and it is neither fair nor proper to respond to allegations during this process. We understand that some counsel may want to litigate this matter in the press, or in the court of public opinion, but we believe this is an improper attempt to pre-dispose a potential jury pool."

The next week, Rogers was left outside for an uncertain amount of time and had to be rushed to the hospital. He would not return home.

Jeff said on June 30, 2018, he received a calm call from Meadow Oaks letting him know his father was being taken to the hospital to get checked out. He says there was no urgency in the caller’s voice, so he didn’t worry about it. Then a second call came from the hospital.

Click to View Documents

“They said, 'Hey, your dad came here almost dead. He was in critical condition. His skin temperature was almost 104 degrees. They had to start life-saving procedures immediately'," Jeff recalled.

Rogers’ family raced to the hospital. They were horrified at what they saw. They say Gene’s arms blackened as if he was lacking circulation.

“We were looking at his legs and his legs were beet red because he had his shorts on and he actually had blisters from being in the sun,” Jeff explained.

The family was told there was little hope for Gene. He had lost his ability to swallow and his condition deteriorated. The hospital advised he spend his remaining days in hospice. Gene died 14 days later.

The Rogers family reached out to Carole Herman for help. Herman runs the Sacramento-based non-profit Foundation Aiding the Elderly (FATE). Herman filed a complaint with the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division, who conducted an investigation.

The California Department of Social Services investigation report states "staff failed to provide adequate care and supervision…which posed an immediate health and safety risk to resident in care." It also says "R1 (Gene) had been sitting outside for 1 hours, 45 minutes or longer when temperatures were increasing and reached 93 [degrees] by 12 p.m. when emergency services were called."

The department substantiated the complaint and planned to assess a penalty of $500, but increased it instead to $1,000 because the facility was cited for having repeated the same violation within 12 months.

The Rogers family hopes its position is bolstered by the ambulance report from June 30, 2018. The report reads: "Per staff PT (patient) was placed outside in wheelchair for a few hours. SNF (skilled nursing facility) forgot about PT."

Jeff says when he tried to get information on what exactly happened that day, he was given an explanation that doesn’t make sense.

“I met with the director there,” Jeff said. “I said, ‘OK, tell me what happened.’ She was like reading from a script. 'Your father got himself outside like he often did.' And now I'm thinking alright, number one, that's not accurate. 'We offered him water and ice at regular intervals and then he got himself back inside and then he was found unresponsive.' And I'm like, 'OK, you can't get yourself back inside because the doors are locked.' And that’s when things were just not lining up.”

The California Department of Social Services investigation report also details interviews it conducted with employees at Meadow Oaks. Those say Gene was given water at regular intervals. The report states, "Time cards shows S2 (employee) was responsible for monitoring R1 (Gene) on 6/30/18. She stated in an interview that she (S2) gave R1 water to avoid dehydration several times."

The Rogers family insists Gene was unable to get anywhere on his own. They say he wasn’t even able to manipulate the wheels on his wheelchair. They say that this makes a response issued by the defendants in the lawsuit particularly upsetting.

"Plaintiff Claude (Gene) Rogers failed to exercise ordinary care on his own behalf for his own safety," the plaintiff's response says. "That negligence caused the injury and damages alleged in plaintiffs’ Complaint."

“We know he couldn't care for himself,” Jeff said. “That's why we placed you in his care [sic]. That's why we paid you almost $6,000 a month, because he couldn't care for himself. I don't know how they can put the fault back on him. It's insulting.”

The Rogers family continues to mourn for Gene. They say his shoes will be hard to fill.

"My dad was the patriarch,” explained Jeff. “He was the one that really looked after everything for many many years. He and my mom were married over 60 years, so you know when you have something like that yanked out of your life all of a sudden, there's going to be a lot of getting used to for a long time.”

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Family says senior living facility lying about 83-year-old father's death

Former Trump advisor's father's death in Philadelphia labeled 'suspicious': multiple agencies investigate

ROXBOROUGH (WPVI) -- According to sources, the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the Department of Health are all investigating the death of former National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster's father, 84-year-old H.R. McMaster, Sr.

It is being investigated as a suspicious death.

On Thursday, the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be blunt impact head trauma.

The manner of death is accidental. However, the medical examiner, says the manner does not mean an act of negligence could have led to it.

H.R. McMaster served as President Trump's national security advisor from February 2017 until earlier this month.

The elder McMaster died on April 13 at Cathedral Village in the 600 block of E. Cathedral Rd in Roxborough, a senior living Continuing Care Retirement Community.

He was receiving care at Cathedral Village after suffering a stroke.

The allegations are that McMaster Sr. fell, hit his head, was put in a chair and then died. He allegedly did not receive proper care.

Investigators are probing information from some staff members who informed the McMaster family that records were falsified pertaining to this death.



Philadelphia police executed a search warrant at the facility Tuesday.
Cathedral Village spoke with 6abc Wednesday evening and stated that they are fully cooperating with the agencies investigating the death of H.R. McMaster, Sr.

Village officials say they contacted the Department of Health the same day of his death and launched an internal investigation into the allegations being made.

A spokesperson said, "We remain committed to the safety and welfare of all our residents and have made every effort to cooperate."

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said, "We are working closely with the Philadelphia Police Department to thoroughly and carefully review this tragic incident. This investigation is in the very early stages."

The McMaster family issued the following statement:

"My brother and I are proud of my father's service to his nation, which he began as a teenager when he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army in combat during the Korean War. He lived a life of service and was known for his courage, toughness and compassion. We are deeply saddened by his loss.

He deserved treatment far better than he received at Cathedral Village. Our main concern is that we honor our father's memory by working with those who will hold accountable those responsible and prevent others from suffering."

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Former Trump advisor's father's death in Philadelphia labeled 'suspicious': multiple agencies investigate

Lawsuit alleging fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living now back in Alameda County

OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A putative class action filed in September by senior citizens against a residential care facilities chain alleging fraudulent practices that deprived them of needed care and exposed them to risk of injury as part of a scheme to maximize revenue is on its way back to a California state court.

The case, Lollock, et al v. Oakmont Senior Living, had been moved from Alameda County Superior Court following a notice of removal filed Oct. 16, moving the case to the U.S. District Court for California's Northern District. That move was reversed Oct. 31 when District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White granted a stipulation in the case and remanded it back to Alameda County Superior Court.

The clerk's notice of the case being remanded back to Alameda County was filed the following day.

White's decision followed several motions filed in the case, including motions to dismiss the complaint and to strike class action allegations filed by Oakmont Senior Living on Oct. 24.

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 13 in Alameda County Superior Court against Oakmont Senior Living by named plaintiffs Donald Lollock, Zareen Khan, Frank Pearson, Jo Ella Nashadka and Jane Burton-Whitaker, as part of the proposed class in the action. Lollock’s wife Kathleen is listed at guardian ad litem on his behalf.

The suit claims defendants in the case, Oakmont Senior Living and Does 1-100, engaged in a scheme to defraud seniors, persons with disabilities and family members.

The alleged scheme worked by "falsely representing to all residents in its admissions contracts that each resident will be provided the case services (through facility staff) that the resident need as determined by the resident assessment conducted by facility personnel," the lawsuit said.

"This is false and misleading because the results generated by Oakmont's resident assessment system are not used to set staffing at each facility. Instead, as a matter of corporate policy, Oakmont allocates expenditures for staff at each facility based on predetermined and statistic budgets designed to maximize revenue."

Maximized revenue being the goal, Oakmont's facilities lack sufficient numbers of trained staff to provide care promised to its residents, the lawsuit said.

"Oakmont conceals and fails to disclose this material fact to current and prospective residents," the lawsuit said.

With few staff members to look after Oakmont’s elderly residents, residents often do not receive the care they require and have been promised, the lawsuit states. Residents have been found on the ground, sitting in their own waste and at least one suffered an unexplained injury, according to the lawsuit.

And Oakmont spokeswoman told another news outlet when the case was initially filed that one of the plaintiff law firms had brought cases against other large California assisted living providers, including Brookdale Senior Living, Atria Senior Living and Aegis Living.

Plaintiffs' counsel listed in the case are Stebner and Associates in San Francisco; Schneider, Wallace, Cottrell, Konecky Wotkyns in Emeryville, California; Dentons US in San Diego; Arns Law Firm in San Francisco and Janssen Malloy in Eureka, as well as Callahan, California attorney Michael D. Thamer.

In October, the state's Department of Social Services began an investigation following evacuation of its Santa Rosa facilities ahead of wildfires in the area that burned down Oakmont's Villa Capri building.

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Lawsuit alleging fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living now back in Alameda County

Flames Rip Through Chester County Senior Living Community Displacing 150 Residents and Staff, Hospitalizing 27

Some people remain unaccounted more than a day after an intense fire destroyed a wing of a Chester County, Pennsylvania senior living community, a high level source tells NBC10.

The late Thursday blaze forced 150 residents and staff into the frigid night and sent 27 residents to the hospital — 17 of whom are still under the care of doctors, officials said.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) are expected to enter the smoldering rubble sometime Saturday, the first time since the fire began that they will search inside.

The five-alarm fire broke out in the personal care section of the Barclay Friends community on the 700 block of North Franklin Street in West Chester. Staff evacuated vulnerable residents on foot, in wheelchairs and even in beds, wrapped in blankets.

Residents were triaged on a neighborhood street, then transported to a number of different shelters on ambulances and school buses.

 

Seniors Flee Inferno at Chester Co. Senior Living Community

Authorities poured over residents lists to check that everyone is accounted for, but at a 3 p.m. news conference Friday they would not answer that question.

"Our first priority is to track down and determine that we can account for everyone," ATF Special-Agent-in-Charge Don Robinson said.

Still, a high level source involved in the investigation told NBC10 that some people are missing, but cautioned that it's unclear if they left shelters with family or friends.

It was around 10:45 p.m. Thursday when smoke and flames first appeared in the personal care area of the facility. Employees rushed into residents' rooms and began ushering them to safety.
 

People at the scene described a frightening rescue from the inferno with some neighbors rushing over to help.

"I'm just envisioning the elderly people burning in their beds because it was so massive... before any rescue came," neighbor Scott Baker said.

With tears in her eyes, staffer Nellie Mingey said she was worried about the residents that she had come to know over three years working at Barclay Friends.

"It's sad," Mingey said. "This is their home. A lot of them don't have anywhere to go."

Parts of the community continued to burn Friday afternoon preventing investigators from searching the complex or determining how the fire started, officials said.

The fire burned so intensely that one firefighter reported feeling his helmet begin to melt, officials said.

Fire Sweeps Through Pa Senior Living Home

Seniors were evacuated into 40-degree weather and some were sent to local hospitals when a 5-alarm fire erupted at a senior living home in West Chester, Pa. Thursday. NBC10 News' Katy Zachry and Dray Clark report.

Unhurt residents were reunited with friends and family at nearby shelters, including one at West Chester University. The American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania had moved everyone from the West Chester shelter to specialized health care facilities and closed the shelter by late morning.

"They're cold, they're scared, they're anxious, they wanted to get out of here, so we're glad to have gotten them out," registered nurse Noreen Cibley said.

Neighbors rushed to the scene as well to help comfort evacuees. One woman who lives within a mile of the scene said she called a first responder friend as soon as she saw the flames, then rushed over with donations from Wawa of coffee and water for the overwhelmed evacuees.

"Everyone seems OK, but they are tired," the neighbor said. "They look really, really exhausted. They've had a long night."

A look at the smoldering senior-living community Friday morning.
Photo credit: SkyForce10  

Barclay Friends, a Kendal Affiliate, is a senior living community that provides professional nursing staff 24 hours a day, meals and other services, according to its website. 

The nursing home section of Barclay Friends was put on a "provisional license" last November by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) because of the citations, and fined $9,750 in April, the state said.

Firefighters warned people in the area to expect traffic troubles in the area of Franklin Street and Goshen Road as roads in the area remained closed Friday as more than two dozen ATF agents led the investigation into the blaze.

A team of national ATF investigators plan to enter the burned out complex on Saturday with the hope of collecting evidence.

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Flames Rip Through Chester County Senior Living Community Displacing 150 Residents and Staff, Hospitalizing 27

Guardian hearing delayed after reporters try to attend

An Albuquerque judge postponed a hearing Monday for a former client of Ayudando Guardians after two Journal reporters tried to attend his guardianship hearing at the client’s invitation.

In a related development, the former Ayudando client, Peter Grotte-Higley, said he moved on Friday to a new senior living facility near the University of New Mexico that he called “1,000 percent better” than his former residence in a Northeast Heights boardinghouse where, Grotte-Higley said, he had been dismayed by his living conditions.

“It’s a different life,” Grotte-Higley, 81, said of his new home. “I had a full-course meal for breakfast. And the people there are nice, too.”

District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd had scheduled a guardianship hearing for Grotte-Higley on Monday after the indictment in July of his court-appointed guardian and conservator, Ayudando Guardians. The July 19 federal indictment alleges the firm’s two principals and their relatives used client funds, including client monthly benefit payments, to support a lavish personal lifestyle.

The hearing Monday was scheduled to appoint a new corporate guardianship company for Grotte-Higley – Decades LLC – to replace Ayudando Guardians. Ayudando offices were closed by the U.S. Marshals Service in late August because of the federal indictment.

Grotte-Higley, a Holocaust survivor, was profiled in a Journal story published Aug. 9 in which he lamented what he described as poor living conditions and a sudden lack of spending money from Ayudando. He said he felt like a prisoner after he was barred from leaving the house with two Journal reporters to go to Ayudando offices in Albuquerque to find out about his guardianship case.

Minutes before Monday’s hearing, one of the reporters who wrote the initial story asked Grotte-Higley in a courthouse hallway if he was willing to allow reporters to attend the hearing.

“Definitely,” he responded. “Why not?” The reporters then followed him into Barela-Shepherd’s courtroom at 2nd Judicial District courthouse in downtown Albuquerque.

But before the hearing began, Barela-Shepherd asked the two Journal reporters to identify themselves.

She then adjourned the proceedings, saying she wanted to research the issue further.

“I can’t unsequester this proceeding, because I don’t have enough information,” the judge said. ” I’m not opposed to unsequestering it, but by statute I don’t know that I can.”

Barela-Shepherd asked Decades and Grotte-Higley’s court-appointed guardian ad litem, Ellen Leitzer, to submit briefs setting out their positions and announced her intention to reschedule the hearing. A new hearing date wasn’t immediately scheduled, but she added, “I want this matter resolved immediately.”

Guardianship hearings in New Mexico typically are closed to the public.

But New Mexico law says that the appointment of a guardian for an incapacitated person “shall be determined by the court at a closed hearing unless the alleged incapacitated person requests otherwise.”

State law covering substitution or replacement of a guardian says that generally “the court shall follow the same procedures to safeguard the rights of the incapacitated person as those that apply to a petition for appointment of a guardian.”

Grotte-Higley, a Jewish native of what is now the Czech Republic, hid from Nazi occupiers as a boy during World War II and later escaped with his mother from captivity in a camp run by the Soviet Union. After the war, he found refuge in Great Britain, where he pursued a career in advertising.

He moved to the United States after his retirement and eventually settled in Albuquerque and married. His late wife of 17 years died in July 2015.

A court docket sheet, the only public record available, shows that Barela-Shepherd appointed Ayudando as Grotte-Higley’s guardian and conservator in February 2016. The judge made the decision after receiving reports, including from a physician, that Grotte-Higley was in need of a guardian to handle decisions about his daily living and a conservator to handle his finances.

At some point last year, Grotte-Higley was placed in a four-man boardinghouse in Northeast Albuquerque where he shared a room with another man.

It’s still unclear whether Grotte-Higley was among the clients who lost money in the alleged embezzlement scheme at Ayudando.

Nancy Oriola, CEO of the Decades Group, a provider of elder care management services is Grotte-Higley’s temporary guardian pending a permanent appointment. She confirmed that Grotte-Higley moved on Friday to The Albuquerque Grand Senior Living, 1501 Tijeras NE. The firm worked hard to find suitable housing for Grotte-Higley, she said.

Grotte-Higley on Monday cheered his new life at The Albuquerque Grand Senior Living as a major improvement over his former housing.

“It’s nice,” he said. “I have my own room.”

He is still waiting for word on the status of certain cherished belongings he says are missing, as well as his pension and other funds Ayudando was managing.

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Guardian hearing delayed after reporters try to attend

Lawsuit alleges fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living

Oakmont of Villa Capri

Four senior citizens, including an 82-year-old Santa Rosa man, are suing a chain of residential care facilities founded by Sonoma County developer Bill Gallaher, accusing his company of fraudulent practices that allegedly deprived them of needed care and exposed them to risk of injury.

The lawsuit, filed this week against Oakmont Senior Living in Alameda County Superior Court, alleged residents were found on the ground, left to sit in their own waste and at least one suffered an unexplained injury at the company’s assisted living facilities.

Fees at the facilities — which ran as high as $10,000 a month per resident — were based on “budgets driven primarily by desired profit margins” rather than assessments of its residents’ individual needs, the suit claimed.

As a result, the suit said, Oakmont Senior Living facilities were understaffed and residents age 65 and older “run the continuing risk of not having their care needs met and of suffering frustration, pain, discomfort, humiliation and/or injury from inadequate care and supervision.”

Gallaher did not return telephone calls and emails over two days requesting comment through his company and his attorneys.

A spokeswoman said in an email sent Thursday night that Oakmont learned Wednesday the suit had been filed and the company had not been served with a copy.

“We understand similar lawsuits have been filed by the same law firm against other large California assisted living providers, including Brookdale Senior Living, Atria Senior Living and Aegis Living,” said Honey Lopez, spokeswoman for Oakmont Senior Living. “Once we have the opportunity to review the allegations, we will respond accordingly.”

The 43-page complaint did not specify the amount of financial damages it was seeking. If a judge certifies it as a class action case, the number of plaintiffs could expand to thousands and the potential penalties against Oakmont could be in millions of dollars, said Kathryn Stebner, a San Francisco attorney who filed the lawsuit with nine other attorneys.

Oakmont Senior Living, a privately held company based in Windsor and founded by Gallaher in 1997, operates 23 senior living facilities in California from Redding to San Diego, including four in Santa Rosa: Fountaingrove Lodge and Oakmont of The Terraces on Thomas Lake Harris Drive and Oakmont of Villa Capri and Oakmont of Varenna on Fountaingrove Parkway.

The lawsuit alleged that Oakmont violated the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, committed elder financial abuse and engaged in “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent” business practices.

Oakmont had a duty to disclose that resident care assessments were not used to set staffing budgets, creating safety risks for current and future residents who were described as “a vulnerable population,” the suit said.

The company “actively conceals from residents, prospective residents, and their family members the true facts about its corporate policy and practice of prioritizing profit over resident care,” it said.

Stebner said the lawsuit seeks to represent current and former residents of Oakmont facilities in California during the last four years, a class that may number as many as 4,000 people.

Gallaher, who started out as a custom home builder in the 1970s and built more than 480 homes in the Oakmont retirement community, has also constructed apartment complexes, office buildings and shopping centers, according to Oakmont Senior Living’s website.

Gallaher, 66, is also founder and board chairman of First Community Bank, a key early lender to Sonoma Clean Power, the county’s public power supplier.

In July, county supervisors approved the sale of 82 acres on Chanate Road to Gallaher, who plans to build housing on the site and pay up to $11.5 million for the land. A citizens’ group filed a lawsuit in August challenging the deal.

Gallaher and his son-in-law, Scott Flater, filed a libel lawsuit against The Press Democrat in January, alleging they were defamed in a series of stories about unprecedented campaign spending in last year’s Santa Rosa City Council election

Oakmont Senior Living was founded by Gallaher in 1997 and is owned and operated by his family, according to the company’s website. It has planned and developed more than 40 retirement communities in the western United States, including assisted living facilities that provide daily assistance to people who are unable to care for themselves. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities do not provide medical care.

Donald Lollock of Santa Rosa, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia, is one of four living plaintiffs who filed the suit against Oakmont. He resided at Oakmont of Villa Capri for three years and paid fees that reached an average of about $10,800 a month, the suit said.

In January 2016, only one caregiver was available in his unit for more than a dozen residents with dementia who needed assistance with feeding, walking, showering, using the toilet and other daily activities, the suit said.

Lollock’s wife, Kathy, frequently found her husband in “urine soaked pants” because he had not been taken to the toilet every two hours, as he needed, and sometimes found him with “feces crusted around his groin,” the suit said.

Lollock, who had trouble using a device to alert staff, was left alone and unsupervised for long periods of time, and his wife once found him on the floor, it said. In May 2016, he “had a broken rib that Oakmont could not explain,” the suit said.

In September 2016, his wife moved him to another facility.

Two of the other plaintiffs — Frank Pearson, 89, and Jo Ella Nashadka, 88 — are residents at Oakmont of Mariner Point in Alameda, and Jane Burton-Whitaker, 74, is a former resident of that facility. A fifth person, Abdulwafi Kahn, also a former resident of the Alameda facility, died at age 75 and is represented in the lawsuit by his daughter.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday. Stebner said she and other lawyers handling the complaint will gather information and seek class action certification in a matter of months or possibly a year. 

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Lawsuit alleges fraud, elder financial abuse at Oakmont Senior Living