We write about a lot of nursing home abuse cases where the facilities are the cause or enabler of the abuse. The administrators at Wesleyan Nursing Home in Georgetown, Texas, however, acted quickly and appropriately at the first sign of abuse with one of their certified nursing assistants.
Frustrated Nursing Assistant Pushes Patient
Ella Jean Moorer is facing a charge of Injury to the elderly, disabled reckless bodily injury for an incident where she injured an 88-year-old patient who has severe Alzheimer’s. According to other staff members of the nursing home, Moorer was trying to change the patient’s clothes when he resisted… “She then became frustrated and grabbed the elderly man’s upper arm, pushed him towards the toilet, put him in a head lock and tried to force him to the toilet with her hand on his chest”. The man later complained of chest pains and had bruising on his upper arm. Moorer denied the incident to the nursing home administrators. She was put on administrative leave and later fired. According to facility administrator Timothy Stuteville:
“This was the first event of its kind with her, so we took it very seriously and we notified the agencies that we needed to notify… We take a lot of pride in the care that we provide for over 200 seniors. And so we won’t tolerate anything but the best for them.”
Caring for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia is not easy, especially because they can often be combative toward caretakers. Since it can at times be frustrating, it is very important for these workers to be knowledgeable of the diseases and very patient. It is good to see a nursing home take the appropriate action at the first sign of abuse with their employees. There are too many facilities that look the other way when it comes to elder abuse and do not report the incidents to the authorities. Moorer was arrested in Williamson County and her bond was set at $7,500.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently a resident of a nursing home or care facility and you are worried that the care they are receiving is negligent, abusive, or inadequate, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
The Johnson Mathers Nursing Home in Carlisle, Kentucky received a Type A citation from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Office of Inspector General on May 10 for an April 30, 2010 incident of nursing home neglect where a resident’s life or safety was endangered because of violations of state regulations. The incident involved a newly admitted resident who was on a pureed diet and had requested all necessary measures be taken to save her life.
Eisenreich, who bought the nursing homes in 1991, is also misusing Omni funds for his own personal gain. In 2007, Omni made over 20 million dollars in profit while 90% of their funding comes from tax dollars. He was not using the money to improve facility care or increase employee salary. He paid caregivers as little as $7.90 an hour while he paid himself more than $1,500 an hour. He had not invested in training programs in over two years. Eisenreich would intimidate and harass his employees, refused to offer them a reasonable family healthcare plan, and created a hostile work environment. In 2009, 400 Omni workers went on strike that lasted three days to send a message to Eisenreich and the rest of Omni that they wanted fair treatment and pay.
A 69-year-old nursing home resident died on Tuesday, June 7th after care workers neglected to bring him inside for over three hours. Martin Belkin, who lived at Sunrise Care Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a history of medical problems. He asked care workers early Tuesday afternoon to be taken outside in his wheelchair. He was left in the heat for over three hours, from 2:45 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. He was found unresponsive. Tuesday was a record high for Milwaukee, reaching 97 degrees at 3:47 p.m. A staffer at the medical examiner’s office asked for a reading of Belkin’s body temperature just before 8 p.m. That reading relayed that Belkin’s body temp was 101.4 degrees. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office will be conducting an autopsy this week to determine if Tuesday’s heat was the official cause of Belkin’s death.
According to a report from
Donna Anderson, a widow from Kentucky, filed suit on May 11 in Madison Circuit Court for the neglect and eventual death of her husband, Richard Anderson. She is claiming that Richmond Health and Rehabilitation – Madison Manor failed to care for her husband during his stay. She cites insufficient staffing and continuing deficiencies as the primary reasons for her husband’s physical decline and eventual death. Her main claim is that an infection on his foot was not properly cared for, which led to amputation. According to the suit, she is saying that the nursing home neglect “accelerated the deterioration of her husband’s health and physical condition beyond the normal aging process” and that her husband suffered loss of dignity and “extreme pain and suffering, degradation, mental anguish, disability and disfigurement.”
A jury in Georgia recently awarded $2million to Elizabeth Costlow for the wrongful death of her 82 year old mother, Ruby Mae Tyle. Tyler was a patient at the Rockmart Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for a little over 3 months when she passed away. Costlow contended that her mother died due to 
According to
Last week in New York City, a mute female stroke victim took the stand in court to testify against the nursing home aide that sexually abused her in a Morningside Heights facility. With the help of an interpreter, the 61-year-old woman painstakingly spelled out her testimony by pointing to letters on a page while the interpreter read them aloud. The victim was considered completely dependent, partially paralyzed and unable to speak. The male nursing home aide was assigned to the midnight shift when he assaulted the disabled woman. He was caught abusing the victim by a nurse who came to the room after seeing her call light come on three different times.