Ayudando guardian sentenced to 6 years in federal prison

This 2017 photo was filed as an exhibit in the criminal case against Craig Young, a guardian with the now-defunct Ayudando Guardians Inc. Prosecutors say the framed national guardian certification found by federal investigators in his office was forged. (Source: U.S. District Court)

By Colleen Heild

As a court-appointed guardian entrusted to help New Mexico’s most vulnerable people, Craig Young spent at least $1.4 million of client funds, while drawing an $80,000 yearly salary and seldom reporting for work.

Even his national guardianship certificate was a forgery, federal prosecutors say.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Martha Vázquez dismissed his plea for home confinement as punishment and sentenced him to federal prison for the next six years.

“The harm is unspeakable, Mr. Young,” Vázquez said of the near 1,000 victims who lost a total of $11 million in the multi-year embezzlement that involved his mother, Susan Harris, his stepfather and a family friend – all employees of the nonprofit firm based in Albuquerque.

Susan Harris, 73, was founder and president of the now-defunct Ayudando Guardians Inc.

As the boss’s son, Young regularly used the company credit card for personal expenses, but claimed he didn’t know that client trust funds and savings were paying for his luxurious lifestyle that included a home in Tanoan, seats at the Final Four basketball tournament and casino gambling.

Young, 54, pleaded guilty last November to two conspiracy charges in the high-profile federal prosecution that helped spur state lawmakers to reform the state’s guardianship system in recent years.

During a four-hour hearing streamed online on Thursday, Vázquez lamented the “extraordinarily vulnerable victims” who lost their financial lifelines in the scheme that dated back to at least 2010.

Some clients, deemed incapacitated by the courts, had physical limitations, others had mental difficulties handling their finances and all relied on Ayudando, which the judge noted was Spanish for “helping.” Others who weren’t wards of the state opted to put their savings and trust funds in the company’s hands for safekeeping.

“You were their link,” the judge said. “You failed to protect. You failed them.”

At issue during Thursday’s hearing was whether Young knew the funds he was receiving came from client accounts.

Ryan Villa, Young’s attorney, asked for 12 months of home confinement, with three years’ supervised release. Prosecutors recommended 15 years in prison.

Villa told the judge that, for a “very long time,” Susan Harris and family friend, Ayudando chief financial officer Sharon Moore, “were able to fool the entire world and the New Mexico community of lots of very, very smart attorneys, judges and clients” that their financial operations were legitimate.

Young was among those “tricked,” his attorney said.

“All he knows is he’s getting money … and obviously it’s too much money to be lawful, but that doesn’t mean he knows it’s stolen from clients,” Villa told the judge. “He didn’t know, he didn’t inquire, he didn’t do what he should have done as a fiduciary.” Young was also on the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Young told the judge before sentencing that he was sorry and hoped to repay some of what was stolen from clients if he could continue working in the community.

“I’ve always tried to be a nice guy,” said Young, who admitted to having a gambling addiction. “I feel horrible, I really do. I didn’t even really call them my clients. They were my friends. I loved those guys.”

Prosecutors contended Young lived a carefree existence courtesy of Ayudando, one of the most prominent providers of social services in New Mexico. “He could work without so many of the burdens that weigh upon most social workers,” stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a sentencing recommendation.

With a yearly salary more than twice that of other Ayudando’s guardians, Young didn’t have to worry about how to pay for his mortgage on his home in Tanoan, his new Jeep, his recreational vehicle, his vacations or his meals, the recommendation stated.

“As he knew well, Ayudando money paid it all and all the money came from the extraction of millions of dollars from hundreds of disadvantaged and disabled people,” stated the prosecutors’ recommendation.

Young’s mother was the “ringleader” of a “deeply corrupt scheme” inside what appeared to be a family-owned charity operation, prosecutors have said.

His mother “surrounded herself with a core group of people” that included Moore, Young and her husband, William Harris, that “she could trust with a terrible secret.” Each lived for years on client money.

Harris and her husband, who entered guilty pleas last year in the embezzlement conspiracy, fled New Mexico before they could be sentenced in the case March 2. They were captured in mid-April in Oklahoma and returned to New Mexico. Neither has been sentenced.

Moore, who is serving a 20-year sentence, “cooked the books,” Villa said. She is accused of covering up the fraud and forging documents submitted to auditors.

“Virtually every client to walk through the door into Ayudando’s offices lost their money to the defendants’ greed,” stated the prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation.

Vázquez told Young that though the legal issues in the case “were difficult, the fact remains that you were not living within your means. You were using your company credit card as a slush fund.”

Villa said the government had no evidence that Young was involved in any of the transfers of client money for personal use.

Prosecutors argued that Young’s employment as a guardian provided a pretext for him to obtain a huge stream of benefits from the company.

They noted his lapsed certification by the National Guardianship Association. When federal investigators searched his Ayudando office, they found he had prominently displayed a forged guardianship certificate showing his certification was current until 2018. It expired in 2011.

“He wasn’t an asset to the business: he carried only half a caseload and his clients complained about him constantly. He never answered his work phone, so his voicemail was full. He never checked his email; his desktop computer didn’t even have a mouse attached to it,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in its recommendation.

“Co-workers reported that he was rarely at work,” stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “and it was widely believed he was usually at casinos.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Pena told the judge Thursday that even after Young’s mother and Moore were initially arrested in July 2017, and the scheme exposed, Young misled federal investigators and quickly sold a $90,000 recreational vehicle purchased with client funds.

Instead of returning those funds to victims, Young lived on the $37,000 proceeds from that sale, and continued living in his home in the gated Tanoan community in Albuquerque for another year.

“He offered himself up as a person to make life-and-death decisions for his clients,” Pena told the judge. “That is the standard we have to hold him to at this juncture.”

Full Article & Source:
Ayudando guardian sentenced to 6 years in federal prison

Indianapolis attorney who took assistant’s Social Security withholdings disbarred

An Indianapolis attorney who converted his only employee’s Social Security withholdings for his own personal use for more than a decade has been disbarred from the practice of law after the Indiana Supreme Court found that he had committed attorney misconduct.

Supreme Court justices unanimously concluded in a Monday per curiam order that disbarment was the best option for attorney Steven Fulk, who “committed attorney misconduct by neglecting a client’s case, converting an employee’s tax withholdings for his own personal use, and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary process.”

The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission filed a two-count disciplinary complaint against Fulk in May 2019 and although he was served, Fulk never properly appeared or responded. After a hearing officer took the facts alleged in the complaint as true, the justices accepted the allegations against Fulk, finding no petition for review of the case’s hearing officer’s report was filed in the case of In The Matter of Steven T Fulk, 19S-DI-00277. 

Justices had already indefinitely suspended Fulk, who was twice suspended in 2019 for his noncooperation with the disciplinary commission’s investigations of grievances against him.

In Count 1, the Supreme Court’s order says Fulk represented Client 1 in post-dissolution matters in Hamilton County. When the client’s ex-wife filed a motion for rule to show cause alleging Fulk’s client had failed to reimburse his portion of uninsured medical and dental expenses for several years, a hearing on the matter was scheduled.

However, neither Fulk nor Client 1 appeared for the hearing, despite both the court and opposing counsel having sent notice of the hearing date to Fulk. As a result, Client 1 was found in contempt and ordered to pay back medical and dental support and attorney fees within 45 days.

The order also says that Client 1 later filed a letter with the court indicating that the first he had learned of the hearing or the court order was in an email sent by his ex-wife about five weeks after the hearing. In that letter and a subsequent letter, Client 1 informed the court that he had attempted without success to contact Fulk multiple times and by multiple means, the order says.

Client 1 subsequently requested that the court vacate its contempt order, remove Fulk from the case, and allow Client 1 to proceed pro se. Client 1’s pro se efforts to obtain relief from the contempt order were unsuccessful, and the court later reduced that order to a civil judgment against Client 1 in the amount of $2,545.35. When the Commission opened an investigation, Fulk failed to substantively respond to the Commission’s demand for information or comply with a subpoena duces tecum for Client 1’s file, the order says.

In Count 2, the order says that Fulk employed an assistant from 2005 until the assistant quit in early 2018. During that time, the order says Fulk withheld money for Social Security from assistant’s earnings, but instead of depositing those sums with the federal government, he instead converted those funds for his own personal use.

In late 2017, assistant received a Social Security statement showing she had no earnings for any of the years she had worked for Fulk. When assistant confronted Fulk about it, he promised he would get it corrected, but Fulk never did. He also failed to respond to the commission’s demand for information on the matter, the order states.

Thus, the high court found Fulk violated the following Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct:

• 1.4(a)(3): Failing to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter;
• 3.4(c): Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules or an order of a court;
• 8.1(b): Knowingly failing to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority;
• 8.4(b): Committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer, and;
• 8.4(c): Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

“Respondent stole earnings from Assistant (his sole employee) during the entire twelve plus years of her employment, violating both state and federal criminal law in the process. Respondent severely neglected Client’s case, resulting in financial detriment to Client. Respondent has shown absolutely no remorse for, or insight into, his misconduct. Respondent refused to cooperate with the Commission’s investigations, has refused to meaningfully participate in these disciplinary proceedings, and has filed no petition for review, brief on sanction, or responsive brief in this Court. Under these circumstances, and based on the record before us, we conclude that Respondent should be disbarred,” the justices wrote Monday in a per curiam order.

The disbarment is effective immediately.

Fulk, who was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1995, shall fulfill all the duties of a disbarred attorney under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(26). The costs of the proceeding are assessed against him.

Full Article & Source:

Indianapolis attorney who took assistant’s Social Security withholdings disbarred

In the Matter of Joanne Black

The third Colorado Court of Appeals opinion relating to the conservatorship of Joanne Black was issued recently.  The opinion addresses an issue of first impression in Colorado involving jurisdiction over a foreign trust funded with assets misappropriated from a Colorado conservatorship.

The history of this case centers around assets that Joanne Black’s mother, Renata Black, left to her via payable-on-death (“POD”) designation.  The POD assets were disclaimed by Joanne’s brother, Bernard Black, while he was acting as Joanne’s conservator.  As a result of the disclaimer, the POD assets were diverted through Renata’s estate, two-thirds to a Supplemental Needs Trust (“SNT”) for Joanne’s benefit and one-third to a trust for Bernard and his children.

After discovering that her brother diverted one-third of her inheritance to a trust for himself and his children, Joanne pursued claims against him.  Joanne ultimately obtained a $4.6 million dollar judgment against her brother for breach of fiduciary duty, surcharge, civil theft and attorney fees, which was upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals (“Court”) in a prior published opinion.  Black v. Black, 422 P.3d 592 (Colo. App. 2018)(cert. denied).  The Court also issued an unpublished opinion in a second appeal in 2018, remanding for the Denver Probate Court (“Probate Court”) to make additional findings regarding the basis for the Probate Court’s jurisdiction over the SNT.

The most recent opinion primarily relates to orders from the Probate Court approving distributions from the SNT to Joanne Black for payment of attorney fees relating to ongoing litigation involving Bernard Black and related family members.  The opinion also addresses an order suspending Bernard Black and his son as trustees of the SNT and the Probate Court’s order on remand from the unpublished opinion mentioned above.
 
In this recent opinion, the Court considered a matter of first impression in Colorado: “whether a Colorado probate court can exercise jurisdiction over the trustees and assets of a foreign trust when that trust was funded with assets misappropriated from a Colorado conservatorship.”

The Court reasoned that the Probate Court had jurisdiction over the POD assets as part of the Colorado conservatorship, because the assets were in control of the conservator.  The Court then held that the Probate Court properly retained in rem jurisdiction over the POD assets, despite Bernard Black’s transfer of the POD assets into a foreign trust as a result of the disclaimer.

The Court also addressed interesting issues relating to in personam jurisdiction over the trustees of a foreign trust, including the application of waiver and Colorado’s long arm statute.

View the opinion (opinion dated April 9, 2020; Petition for Rehearing denied, and opinion modified June 11, 2020).

Full Article & Source:
In the Matter of Joanne Black

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day - What You Can Do to Help!

The significance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day this year cannot be understated. In nursing and long-term care facilities across the country, our nation’s most vulnerable are isolated from their loved ones, who are still unable to visit or ensure that they are receiving the proper care due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Yet, whether people believe the coronavirus is a danger or a conspiracy, there is no denying the fact that the elderly are dying in these facilities, sometimes without the knowledge of their families, at horrific rates (46,000 nationwide according to a USA Today study).

The industry’s lobbyists have used the crisis to successfully garner liability protections in 20 states including New York, Illinois, Michigan, Connecticut and Kentucky. According to the Washington Post, this is part of an “agenda to use immunity to evade long-standing liabilities.”

Even with a federal law that now mandates long term care facilities must disclose the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-`19, there are still states that are refusing to release data or have divulged unreliable numbers.

In New York and Michigan, both governors came under fire came under fire for mandating that nursing homes accept COVID-19 patients.

We know that, during the lockdowns, probate and family courts nationwide still heard guardianship/conservatorship cases by phone or Zoom meetings. This was a huge concern for the vulnerable who may not have had access to the technology to attend. Without the proper monitoring of these cases, we do not have a clear idea as to whether guardians and conservators were continuing the practice of moving the elderly out of their homes and into a facility, despite the dangers of doing so.

Today, NASGA reaches out to people across the country to ask for their help while offering some help of our own:

Please take our COVID-19 guardianship survey by clicking: HERE. This six-minute survey is designed only to help us gather data on how guardianships have been dispensed over the past four months and what has happened to wards. Answers will be used for no other purpose than to formulate a study to distribute to the media and lawmakers while assisting where possible on individual cases.

Our full guardianship survey is available HERE. In just 20 minutes, you can help us accomplish the kind of nationwide data collection the lack of which has muddied the waters in terms of understanding the level of guardianship abuse that has and continues to victimize our most vulnerable.

Today, NASGA announces that it has made available documentation gathered by investigative journalist Gretchen Rachel Hammond and her team for the Lisagor Award-nominated series on a massive alleged guardianship abuse ring operating out of Oakland County, Michigan.

These case files offer an insight into the practices employed by four guardians including allegedly fraudulent petitions for guardianship, billing and real estate practices, questionable ward progress and Guardian at Litem reports and heartbreaking letters to the court from the wards themselves. Each folder comes with a brief, explanatory paragraph and each file is highlighted to show questionable behavior.

You can access the files by clicking these links:

*Guardian Accounts:

*Guardian Annual Reports:

*Ward Letters to the Court

*Guardian Petitions:

*Guardian Real Estate:

*Unlicensed Group Homes:

People nationwide are invited to add to this wealth of information by sharing their own documents and video stories.

Click HERE for details as to how

On this elder abuse day, it is more important than ever to come together, share information and build a movement that neither media nor lawmakers can continue to ignore. Together, we will end the abuse and exploitation of our most vulnerable once and for all!

(Note: Surveys are a joint project of NASGA and ProbateWatch)

Elder abuse, from physical harm to financial exploitation, is far more common than you might think: Natasha Pietrocola

Elder abuse operates in the shadows, often involving seniors who are isolated and family members who may neglect or exploit relatives they should be protecting. The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND -- World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is tomorrow. It was conceived on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and recognized in 2011 by the U.N. General Assembly.

The day provides an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of the abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic, and demographic processes affecting elder abuse. In addition, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is held in support of the U.N. International Plan of Action, acknowledging the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue.

This observance serves as a call to action for individuals, organizations, and communities to raise awareness about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Natasha Pietrocola is deputy administrator of the Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services.

Approximately 1 in 10 Americans aged 60 and older have experienced some form of elder abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are abused each year. A 2003 study estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities.

Abusers are both women and men. In almost 60% of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member.

In Cuyahoga County, adult protective services is one of the programs available at the Division of Senior and Adult Services. We have the authority to investigate allegations of those 60 and older who reside in a community setting when there is an impairment and an allegation of abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and/or exploitation present warranting such action. We conduct many investigations where there are multiple allegations.

Types of abuse and what they entail include:

· Physical abuse - inflicting physical pain or injury upon an older adult. It also includes unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm.

· Sexual abuse - touching, fondling, intercourse, or any other sexual activity with an older adult, when the older adult is unable to understand, unwilling to consent, threatened, or physically forced.

· Emotional abuse - verbal assaults, threats of abuse, harassment, or intimidation.

· Neglect / Self-neglect - when a caregiver, or the adult themself, fails to provide an older adult (or themself) with life’s necessities, including, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. Neglect can occur unintentionally and also include willful deprivation where there is purposeful denying to an older adult needed medication, medical care, shelter, food, a therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, and an exposing of that person to the risk of physical, mental, or emotional harm — except when the older, competent adult has expressed a desire to go without.

· Financial exploitation - the unlawful or improper act of a person using, in one or more transactions, an adult’s resources for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain when the person obtained or exerted control over the adult’s resources without consent or by deception, threat or intimidation.

You may wonder what makes an older adult more susceptible to abuse. We know that social isolation and mental impairment (such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease ) are two factors. Recent studies show that nearly half of those with dementia experienced abuse or neglect. Interpersonal violence also occurs at disproportionately higher rates among adults with disabilities.

Elders who have been abused have a 300% higher risk of death when compared to those who have not been mistreated. While likely underreported, estimates of elder financial abuse and fraud costs to older Americans range from $2.9 billion to $36.5 billion annually. Yet, financial exploitation is self-reported at rates higher than emotional, physical, and sexual abuse or neglect.

If you suspect an older adult is being subjected to elder abuse, please contact our centralized intake at (216) 420-6700 or by visiting our website at dsas.cuyahogacounty.us to make a report. We can all make a difference in combating this public health concern that affects so many of our older citizens.

Natasha Pietrocola is deputy administrator of the Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services.

Full Article & Source:
Elder abuse, from physical harm to financial exploitation, is far more common than you might think: Natasha Pietrocola

Unwanted house guests

A domestic violence survivor looks out the window at the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence in Boulder County. June 15 is National World Abuse Awareness Day.
(Photo by SPAN staff)

By Eva Veitch

National World Abuse Awareness Day June 15.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched on June 15, 2006, by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.

The purpose of WEAAD is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.

Elder abuse is defined as the mistreatment or harming of an older person. It can include physical, emotional or sexual abuse, along with neglect and financial exploitation. Social factors such as a lack of support services or community resources can increase the risk of elder abuse.

Mary took a fall over a year ago and broke her hip. Her grandson and his girlfriend moved in to help take care of her and they are still there. Neither of them works and Mary pays all the bills, buys the groceries (they use her debit card) and even pays someone to mow the lawn. They have taken over her life and her small home, they have taken her car keys because she is too “sick” to drive.

Mary is embarrassed to admit that she has allowed this to get so out of hand, but she is afraid to ask them to leave. I learned of her situation when she called my office to ask if there were volunteers to help with yardwork. We always probe a bit when people call to see if there are other services we may be able to provide. I am so glad that she was willing to talk to me about what is going on; it turns out her house guests were out to lunch when she called, and Mary was feeling very frustrated and told me the whole story.

I explained Adult Protective Services and asked her to please call right away. When the house guests returned, they had a lot of explaining to do! Mary is slowly putting her life back together, although her self-confidence has suffered.

This is not an unusual story; most exploitation occurs within the family and is often unreported. Older adults often feel afraid that they will be cut off from the family or put in a nursing home if they speak up.

Other forms of exploitation involve people offering to perform work and either don’t complete the work, do it improperly or take a deposit and never return.

Caregiver neglect occurs when the caregiver disregards the basic needs of an elder and withhold, food, hygiene or medications. This type of abuse often involves financial exploitation in addition to physical neglect and emotional abuse.

Sexual abuse and domestic violence of elders is also on the rise although seriously underreported because of stigma, fear or a lifelong pattern in the family that is accepted by the victim and other family members.

We all have a responsibility to advocate for the rights of elders and help keep them safe. How can you help? If you suspect something, ask questions, have a candid conversation with the elders in your life about the many types of abuse and exploitation that are occurring. Use yourself as an example of close calls you have had in the realm of financial exploitation; we all get the scam calls and it’s hard to ignore the call from the Social Security Administration or the IRS. Scams, exploitation, neglect and abuse do occur in our community.

Eva Veitch is with the Region 10 Area Agency on Aging.

Full Article & Source: 
Unwanted house guests

Fort Oglethorpe nursing home has multiple Covid-19 positive tests

By Collins Parker

FORT OGLETHORPE, Georgia (WDEF) – Another northwest Georgia nursing home is coping with a rash of Covid-19 positive tests.

Pruitt Health operates hundreds of senior care facilities in four southeastern states.

Their location in Fort Oglethorpe (behind the Battlefield 10 movie theater) has seen 33 positive tests out of their 88 residents.

25 staff members have also tested positive.

State records show none have died but none have recovered yet.

Catoosa County has had a total of 217 cases since the pandemic began with 18 people currently in the hospital.

Pruitt Health has 35 locations in Georgia that have had at least one Covid-19 positive test.

They include two residents who have recovered in Blue Ridge, and one resident in LaFayette.

The other major outbreak in our area of northwest Georgia is NHC Healthcare in Rossville.

State records show 44 residents and 23 staff tested positive.

One of their residents has died.

The other senior care facilities on the Georgia database now are:

PCH BLUE RIDGE ASSISTED LIVING AND MEMORY CARE: 4 staff

PCH GARDENS AT ROYAL OAKS in Dalton: 2 staff

PCH MORNINGSIDE OF DALTON: 2 staff

PARKSIDE CENTER FOR NURSING AND REHAB AT ELLIJAY: 1 resident

QUINTON MEM HC & REHAB CENTER in Dalton: 1 staff

REGENCY PARK HEALTH AND REHABILITATION in Dalton: 1 resident who has recovered, 3 staff

Full Article & Source:
Fort Oglethorpe nursing home has multiple Covid-19 positive tests

Attorney linked to clients’ missing settlement money disbarred

TAMPA, Fla. -- The state’s highest court issued an order permanently disbarring a once popular Tampa attorney now accused of withholding his clients’ settlement money.

The Florida Supreme Court issued the order disbarring Jose Toledo as of May 14.

ABC Action News first exposed allegations about the missing settlement last summer after Toledo’s personal injury clients contacted ABC Action News saying he never sent their settlement checks.

Toledo practiced personal injury and immigration law in the Tampa Bay area for two decades.

Nearly 50 of Toledo’s clients have filed complaints with the Florida Bar and last fall, the Bar petitioned a judge to suspend the well-known attorney.

Court records show Toledo is accused of wiping out three different trust accounts that held settlement money.

Toledo’s whereabouts are currently unknown and he was last seen in August in Tennessee, where he was arrested on a domestic assault charge.

The Florida Supreme Court also ordered Toledo to pay more than $2,300 in court costs, but the order did not mention repayment his clients’ settlement money.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney linked to clients’ missing settlement money disbarred

Four MN nursing homes have more than 100 coronavirus cases as state looks to control outbreak

Saint Therese Senior Services in New Hope, Minn., on Thursday, April 30, 2020. A suburban Minneapolis nursing home said 47 residents have died from complications of COVID-19, the most at any long-term care facility in Minnesota. (Evan Frost/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

By Katrina Pross

Four Minnesota nursing homes have more than 100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Three of those centers have at least 38 deaths.

The grim details of the state’s battle against the spread of the coronavirus in its assisted living centers were released this past Friday by the Minnesota Department of Health. In fact, the majority of deaths from the coronavirus in the state continues to be from long-term care or assisted living centers, making up 955 of the state’s 1,197 total deaths reported as of Monday.

The data’s release was in response to a request by Republican State Sen. Karin Housley of St. Mary’s Point, who has been critical of the state’s efforts to stem such cases.

“We are facing an unprecedented crisis at long-term care facilities in Minnesota,” Housley, who chairs the Senate’s Family Care and Aging Committee, said, pointing out that about 80 percent of the state’s coronavirus deaths have been in congregate-care facilities.

Housley had asked the Health Department for more details on how the virus was impacting nursing homes and at one point threatened to subpoena the agency. After receiving the data, Housley said in a statement that she would sponsor a bill requiring widespread testing at long-term care facilities.

WHICH CENTERS HIT HARDEST?

• North Ridge Health and Rehab in New Hope: 221 resident cases, 74 staff members infected, 57 resident deaths
• St. Therese of New Hope: 155 resident cases, 43 staff members infected, 67 resident deaths
• Southview Acres Healthcare Center in West St. Paul: 120 resident cases, 33 staff members infected, 38 resident deaths
• Lyngblomsten Care Center in St. Paul: 81 resident cases, 50 staff members infected, 16 resident deaths
• Augustana Chapel View Care Center in Hopkins: 68 resident cases, 22 staff members infected, 29 resident deaths.

MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said at a media briefing Monday afternoon that the numbers and data can be misleading without proper context, such as how the state compares with others. The MDH is also trying to take a balanced approach between trying to protect patient privacy and disclosing the names of facilities that have had more than 10 cases, Malcolm added.

“I certainly understand the public interest in knowing more detail about what’s going on in these long-term care facilities,” Malcolm said.

Of the 289 care centers listed with a confirmed case of coronavirus, more than half (146) had four cases or fewer; and 30 percent (86) had just one case.

Efforts to reach officials with the top few centers for comment were unsuccessful.

HOW DOES MINNESOTA COMPARE?

The outbreak in the United States is believed to have first taken a hold in a Seattle-area nursing home, prompting facilities across the country and Minnesota to limit visitors and interaction between staff and residents.

When looking at the numbers of cases in skilled nursing homes, Minnesota has 49.7 cases per 1,000 residents, Forum News Service reported. That ranks as the 26th highest state in the country and puts Minnesota below the national average of 62 cases per 1,000 residents.

The national average for deaths per 1,000 nursing home residents is 27.5 deaths. Minnesota is at 12.1 deaths per 1,000 nursing home residents, which is the 29th highest state.

Minnesota has stepped up its “battle plan” to address infections in long-term care centers with efforts such as expanding testing, helping staff get personal protective equipment when needed and looking to boost staffing.

Housley said in an email to the Pioneer Press that while the commissioner’s response did provide some useful information, she has several takeaways, including that she thinks some centers need more personal protection equipment and testing. She also said patients in these facilities should be allowed visitors again, and that Minnesota should a consider a similar approach to Colorado, which is looking at allowing outside visits.

Full Article & Source:
Four MN nursing homes have more than 100 coronavirus cases as state looks to control outbreak