Are California’s assisted-living facilities getting any safer for elderly residents? You might remember a series of reports in U-T San Diego about the prevalence of “deadly neglect” in assisted living facilities throughout our state. While efforts have been underway over the last couple of years to change the culture in California’s assisted-living facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs), it is difficult to know whether or not we can trust that a facility will provide proper care for our elderly loved ones. Nursing home abuse and neglect remains a serious issue in Southern California and, indeed, across the country.
According to a recent news release from the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a facility in Anaheim was cited for serious violations in connection with elder abuse and neglect. What else do you need to know about the recent citations and what they say about the safety of assisted-living facilities in California?
Report Suggests Patterns of Elder Abuse and Neglect
According to the news release, the Anaheim assisted-living facility, Mother Marcy Home Care-Chateau, is alleged to have engaged in behaviors that posed serious safety risks to patients. To begin with, the facility allegedly “evicted a resident earlier this year without advance notice and abandoned him at a hospital three miles away,” investigators reported. We know that one of the owners of the facility has “a lengthy felony record,” and is alleged to have “defied state officials’ orders to stay away from residents but continued to visit the sex-bed elder care home on a regular basis.”
These recent citations are not the first—by any stretch—levied against Mother Marcy Home Care-Chateau. Over the last five years, the assisted-living facility has received more than 80 citations, when we take into account its sister facility, Mother Marcy Home Care (which is also located in Anaheim). In other words, the Orange County nursing home has received repeated violations that suggest a pattern of elder abuse and neglect. The citations, according to the news release, included some of the following allegations:
- Failure to provided minimum required caregiver training;
- Failure to perform “common sense procedures,” which included keeping dangerous objects away from residents; and
- Failing to run background checks on employees.
Researching Histories of Nursing Home Abuse in California
While the California Department of Social Services now has an electronic database in which Californians can seek out detailed information about safety violations at assisted-living facilities, a number of elder advocates argue that the database as it currently exists is insufficient. Indeed, not all inspection reports are available to the public, and there is a lack of specificity with regard to some of the violations.
Nursing home abuse and neglect can result in severe and even fatal injuries. If you have concerns that an elderly loved one has not received property care at a nursing home, assisted-living facility, or RCFE, it is essential to discuss your case with a dedicated San Diego nursing home abuse attorney. While signs of elder abuse can be subtle, they can have fatal consequences. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help.
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