Mahoning Co. Probate Court Employee Being Investigated

An employee of the Mahoning County Probate Court has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an internal court investigation.

Donald D. Gaudio Jr., 48, deputy clerk and guardianship investigator, was placed on leave and has turned in his court credentials, Judge Mark Belinky announced.

The investigation, which should be completed in about two weeks, is being headed by Richard Burgess, the court’s chief magistrate, Judge Belinky said. The probe appears to involve only Gaudio, Judge Belinky added.

The court has obtained information on Gaudio’s employment and must determine whether Gaudio “has engaged in any inappropriate behavior during his employment with this court,” Judge Belinky wrote without elaborating in a Monday judgment entry.

The judge said he made the probe public because of rumors circulating about it. Judge Belinky said it is “unfair and distracting to the other employees of the court to be the subject of innuendos and rumors.”

On his job application, Gaudio said he wasn’t related to any current elected or appointed county official, had a valid driver’s license, and had never been dismissed or asked to resign from employment.

Gaudio also said he had never been convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, false statements, violence or offenses of moral turpitude.

Full Article and Source:
Probe of Probate Worker Begins

Court Works to Encourage Settlements

When Riverside attorney Joseph P. Myers went to law school in the late 1960s, he recalled there were no courses in mediation. Civil litigation lawyers were expected to be warriors in court.

Now Myers is one of about 90 attorneys in the Riverside County court's alternative dispute resolution program, committed to getting cases settled by a sort of diplomatic shuttling between parties to see if they can reach an agreement.

"It is not easy, going from protecting clients' interests and beating the other side to suggesting compromises" when he is called from his trial lawyer work to act as a mediator, Myers said.

While the program is not quite a year old, and not enough numbers have returned to define how it is doing, participating lawyers such as Myers say it is making a big difference in Riverside's once-jammed civil courts.

The mediation program began in April 2009, just as the Riverside County courts started moving civil cases more quickly to trial after years of backlog while criminal cases were heard in civil courts.

Full Article and Source:
Court Works to Encourage Settlements

Financial Planner Accused of Theft

A financial planner is accused of stealing a 70-year-old woman's life savings - more than a half-million dollars - and leaving her essentially penniless.

Springdale police arrested Martin Morris, 50.

A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Morris on 14 counts, including aggravated theft, theft from an elderly person and forgery.

Springdale police detective Keenan Riordan said Morris stole $509,637 by forging checks while handling all of the woman's finances.

Full Article and Source:
Financial Planner Charged With Bilking the Elderly

'A Pattern of Resident Abuse'

When state investigators were called into the Brainerd, Minn., nursing home in late 2008, administrators said one aide might have mistreated several residents with dementia.

What they found was far more troubling: A "pattern of resident abuse'' by at least 20 nursing assistants that included belittling elderly patients, telling a man to urinate in his incontinence briefs and removing a call-light from a confused female resident.

"This was a systemwide failure," said Stella French, who oversees state Health Department investigators. "It's a situation that the administration should have known about and should have stopped."

The home's owner, Good Samaritan of Sioux Falls, S.D., is the nation's largest nonprofit chain of nursing homes and the owner of the Albert Lea nursing facility where abuse of several elderly residents led to criminal charges against two aides last year -- a fact that caused some soul-searching at the organization.

"This is not another Albert Lea," said spokesman Mark Dickerson. "It's not that level of problem. Still, coming so soon after Albert Lea, both the state and we swooped in right away to get to the bottom of things.

"You have to realize, we have made a lot of changes, done a lot of training," Dickerson added. "It's not the same place."

Full Article and Source:
Brainerd Nursing Home is Cited for Abuse

Ohio AG Files Suit Against Nursing Home Provider

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed a lawsuit against a large Ohio-based nursing home provider doing business under the name Carington Health Systems. The lawsuit alleges the company overstated nursing home expenses in reports filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), resulting in overpayments of Medicaid reimbursements for 21 nursing facilities.

“By artificially inflating its expenses, this company caused the Ohio Medicaid Program to overpay for services,” said Attorney General Cordray. “It is critical that Medicaid dollars are spent as intended and that we hold accountable those providers who try to take advantage of the system.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, seeks monetary recovery for the overpayment of Medicaid reimbursement and damages.

The nursing facilities named in the complaint are:
Arlington Nursing Home, Newark
Batavia Nursing & Convalescent Center, Batavia
Bryden Place, Columbus
Carington Park, Ashtabula
Clermont Nursing & Convalescent Center, Milford
East Galbraith Health Care Center, Cincinnati
East Galbraith Nursing Home, Cincinnati
Forest Hills Center, Columbus
Franklin Ridge, Inc., Franklin
Glencare Center, Cincinnati
Golden Years Nursing Home, Hamilton
Harmony Court, Cincinnati
Home at Hearthstone, Cincinnati
Heath Nursing & Convalescent Center, Heath
Madison Health Care, Madison
Nelson Park Care Center, Columbus
Sidney Care Center, Sidney
St. Catherine’s of Fostoria, Fostoria
St. Catherine’s of WCH, Washington Court House
Terrace View Gardens, Cincinnati
Woods Edge Point, Cincinnati

Full Press Release and Source:
Cordray Files Suit Against Nursing Home Provider

Read the Full Complaint

Aide Stuffs Sock in Patient's Mouth

An aide at a northwestern Minnesota nursing home crammed a sock in the mouth of a screaming resident because the woman, elderly and in the late stages of dementia, wouldn't be quiet, according to a state Health Department report.

The report quotes a co-worker as saying, "What the hell are you doing?" as the incident unfolded on Jan. 4 in the resident's room at the Sunnyside Care Center in Lake Park.

The co-worker told an investigator that the nursing assistant "chuckled" and responded that the resident "wouldn't quit hollering," the report added. The co-worker then removed the sock from the resident's mouth.

The nursing assistant, who was hired in October 2009 at the care center east of Fargo, was fired.

Full Article and Source:
State: Nursing Home Aide Stuffed Sock in Dementia Patient's Mouth

A Great Idea: Playgrounds for Seniors

In Great Britain and Japan, playgrounds are being built for seniors. In Manchester, United Kingdom, seniors can use low impact exercise equipment in Dam Head Public Park. In Japan, with birthrates falling and the numbers of senior citizens increasing, underused playgrounds are being renovated for seniors.

In an article titled, "Japan's elderly playgrounds show fun is for everyone," Chika Osaka notes that playgrounds are not just for children. In Japan, with fewer people having children, and nearly 400,000 centenarians, Japan has the world's oldest population. As a result, local governments are disassembling children's playgrounds to convert them to fitness parks for older persons.

The seniors not only enjoy the exercise but also the socialization. Many feel isolated from the community. Some report experiencing a heightened sense of well-being after the exercise.

The cost of an elderly playground may start at 8 million yen ($87,220) including installation and fees for trainers. The Association of Physical Fitness Promotion And Guidance says demand has been growing. Over 15,000 pieces of workout equipment have been installed in parks in Japan, and the number of seniors using the playgrounds daily has doubled.

Playgrounds for Seniors: A Fun and Practical Idea Gets the Elderly in Motion

Granny O'Grimm

Full Oscar-nominated film of 'Granny O'Grimm', directed by Nicky Phelan, produced by Brown Bag Films, and written/voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke. Nominated for Best Animated Short Film 2010.


Source:
YouTube

See Also:
www.GrannyO'Grimm.com

Kansas: SB372

SB 372 requires that orders establishing and governing a guardianship or conservatorship issued by a court of competent jurisdiction of any other state, regardless of the specific terminology used in that state’s laws, be given full faith and credit within Kansas, except when doing so would be in specific violation of any Kansas law. The bill takes effect upon its publication in the Kansas Statute Book.

Source:
Kansas governor Takes Action on Legislation: Concerning Guardianship and Conservatorship