Report backs allegations against nursing home
Alleged rapist dies days after being charged
Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
An Edmond nursing facility lacked an effective system for investigating and reporting abuse and failed to consult with a resident’s physician when there was an injury, according to a report.
The Edmond Sun obtained a copy of the 131-page investigative report conducted by the State Health Department.
Click here to download a copy of the 131-page report.
The agency’s investigation was triggered by a Sept. 16, 2008, incident at Grace Living Center, 2520 S. Rankin St. On that day, a resident, Lester Pendergraft, age 93 at the time, allegedly sexually assaulted a 67-year-old resident.
The Health Department’s survey was completed on Sept. 26 and the agency received Grace Living Center’s plan of correction on Oct. 21, said Henry Hartsell Jr., the agency’s deputy commissioner of Protective Health Services.
Hartsell said a $10,000 penalty resulting from the inspection has been proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The facility requested a hearing on the penalty, and it is pending before the CMS Regional Office in Dallas, he said.
According to the report, in an abuse or neglect incident, the facility’s staff are to notify the director of nurses and the doctor, get the resident out of harm’s way and assess the resident “the minute you find out there is an allegation.
“The resident was not assessed timely after the incident,” the report stated.
Citizen advocate Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, an advocacy organization for disability and elder rights, said when he read the report he was “deeply disturbed” because two individuals who came to the facility for care were affected.
Bledsoe said what was most shocking was that the incident happened in the first place, that evidence was destroyed with either intent or by incompetence and that a staff member voiced concern about police blowing the situation out of proportion.
“The resident was not assessed timely after the incident,” the report stated.
Citizen advocate Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, an advocacy organization for disability and elder rights, said when he read the report he was “deeply disturbed” because two individuals who came to the facility for care were affected.
Bledsoe said what was most shocking was that the incident happened in the first place, that evidence was destroyed with either intent or by incompetence and that a staff member voiced concern about police blowing the situation out of proportion.
Abridged
SOURCE: The Edmond Sun
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