photo by Brie Cohen

Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, an Oklahoma-based advocacy group, talks with locals about nursing home abuse at a town hall meeting Wednesday evening at the Albert Lea Inn. A Perfect Cause is dedicated to long-term elder care reform.

Town hall meeting brings out concerns over possible other cases of elder abuse

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Oklahoman founder of a national watchdog group for nursing homes and three Minnesotan advocates for the elderly told Albert Lea area residents Wednesday night that if they come together and make their voices heard, they can have the ability to affect major change for long-term care in this country.

During what was the second town hall meeting at the Albert Lea Inn regarding allegations of abuse from January to May last year at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, at least 50 area residents came out to seek expertise from Jean Patzner Mueller, with the Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care; Jim Carey, the lawyer who is involved with the civil side of the alleged abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea; Mark Wandersee, executive director of nonprofit ElderCare Rights Alliance; and Wes Bledsoe, of A Perfect Cause, a citizens’ advocacy organization in Oklahoma committed to long-term care reform.

The town hall meeting was just a few hours following the arraignment of two Albert Lea High School graduates on charges of abuse of residents at the nursing home.

The two young women charged, Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson, both 19, did not enter pleas during the arraignment, but the judge did set bail and conditions of release.

They had until 5 p.m. to post bail. Both did so.

They will next appear before the court March 23.

Bledsoe raised the question as to why none of the alleged victims or their families were interviewed for the case. He said all too often there’s a misconception about reliable witnesses.

He noted that some of the problems that are happening in this case could have been prevented had their been cameras at least in the common areas of the nursing home, he said. He has been trying to push mandatory cameras in common areas and voluntary cameras in residents’ rooms.

He encouraged people to speak up and be a part of a change that’s needed for nursing home residents.

“With your voices we can make change,” he said. “I want you to remember that. You’re powerful.”

Several family members of nursing home residents in the Good Samaritan facility talked about other separate times they’ve questioned the care.

People talked of alleged incidents where call lights were not being answered for more than 30 minutes and residents who were having repeated urinary tract infections.

One woman, Karen L. O’Byrne, talked of her mother allegedly being dropped from a Sabina lift and having her hip badly broken.

O’Byrne said the nurses had put it in their notes that the incident happened, but they did not report it to herself or any of her other siblings. They did not tell her brother, who came 20 minutes after the incident.

She said her mother can be classified as a vulnerable adult because she’s paralyzed on one side and cannot speak.

The only reason the nursing home staff did end up telling the family was because the next day they ended up taking her to the emergency room, she said.

Her mother had been throwing up because of the pain, and it ended up that she had broken her hip, she said.

O’Byrne talked to the crowd about the power of family members speaking up for their loved ones.

She said she writes in a diary everyday about things that happen to her mother.

She wrote a letter to Bledsoe, who told her to forward it to Freeborn County Attorney Craig Nelson. Then one day, she got a call from the Minnesota Department of Health, Freeborn County Human Services, the Albert Lea Police Department and the nursing home’s administrator.

The Police Department conducted an investigation and concluded there had not been any criminal action taken during the incident; however, a Department of Health investigation may still be in the works.

“It does help to speak up,” O’Byrne said. “I have riled up so many people. They’re treating my mother very differently at Good Samaritan. They’re treating me very different.”

She said she’s not trying to shut down the facility, but she just wants them to take care of her mother.

Her mother has also had some horrific things happen with her toenails, she said, where her toenails have allegedly grown as long as an inch and a half or 2 inches long. Because her mother is diabetic she was specifically concerned about making sure her toenails were clipped.

In response to these allegations, Mark Dickerson, marketing director for Good Samaritan Society, said if people have had situations they question take place to their loved ones they need to raise them to the proper authority.

“If anyone has concerns like that they need to bring them forward at the time they happened,” Dickerson said. “They need to voice their concerns.

“We take abuse and neglect seriously.”

Bledsoe encouraged family members of loved ones in nursing homes to carry cameras with them every time they visit nursing homes and to always document the times and dates of any incidents they are concerned about.

His office and the Ombudsman’s office can help people draft formal complaints if they need the help.

Patzner Mueller said if the facility does not act after receiving a complaint, that’s where the power of families comes in.

“It’s not acceptable to wait 45 minutes,” she said. “It’s not acceptable to drop someone on the floor. It’s not rocket science.”

She told the crowd that whether the families feel this way, “you have the loudest and most powerful voice of anyone.”

“I know how difficult that can be, but you truly have a lot of power to make change,” she said. “None of these issues are acceptable. There’s ways to improve them.”

Wandersee said the community needs to be willing to acknowledge the problems in long-term care facilities and say they want to be a part of the solution.

“You are their eyes and ears, and you can play an integral part,” he said.

People need to talk to their legislators about issues that take place and about funding for nursing homes.

At the end of the meeting, one woman, Georgiann Quinn, raised concerns about the defendants in the case reportedly meeting for lunch at the China Buffet following the arraignment.

Quinn said she was at the restaurant with her mother.

The Tribune is investigating.

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