MN- At Montevideo nursing home, reports of abuse

12-11-2008 Minnesota:

In Montevideo, an aide abused residents physically, sexually and emotionally. But charges are unlikely because the victims had dementia.

In a case similar to one that has rocked Albert Lea, the Minnesota Department of Health said Monday that a nursing home aide in Montevideo, Minn., physically, sexually and emotionally abused six elderly residents over a period of about six months early this year.

Unlike the Albert Lea case, the Montevideo allegations involve only one aide. In Albert Lea, two female aides were charged with physical and sexual abuse and assault of seven residents, and four others were charged as juveniles for not reporting maltreatment.

But as in Albert Lea, the alleged abuse in Montevideo went on for months and was witnessed by another aide who didn't report it to supervisors until July. Five of the six victims have dementia.

According to the Health Department report: The Montevideo aide stuck her finger in the cancerous vulva of a resident until she screamed, dropped another resident on her bed from 4 feet and laughed, and tossed on the floor stuffed toys that a third resident thought were her children. The report also says she gave lap dances to two male residents and bared her breasts to at least one of them.

The woman with cancer died in April, before the home learned of the abuse, the report said.

In another instance, the report said, the aide struck a woman resident in the face after the woman called the aide an offensive name. The resident's medical records noted that she had been "verbally and physically abusive to staff."

The aide was suspended on the day her fellow aide reported the abuse and was fired two weeks later, the report said.

The report did not address sanctions against the aide who had witnessed the alleged abuse but delayed reporting it.

Minnesota's vulnerable- adult law requires aides to report suspected maltreatment to the nursing home where they work. Aides must be educated by the home about that requirement when they are hired and annually after that.

"We typically expect the home to address the issue and reeducate an aide about the requirement to report," said Darcy Miner, who heads health facility inspections at the Health Department.

An aide who has mistreated a nursing home resident can be barred from working in nursing homes but could work in a home care agency, she said.

Criminal charges unlikely

Chippewa County Attorney Dwayne Knutson said Wednesday that he "probably will not go forward" with charges against the aide. He said all but one of the victims has dementia, and a man who could talk about the abuse "was embarrassed and didn't want to talk with police."

"In Albert Lea they had people who admitted the abuse,'' Knutson said, "but this woman vehemently denies it, so without something stronger, we probably will not proceed."

In the Albert Lea case involving Good Samaritan nursing home, Health Department investigators concluded that four aides had verbally, physically and emotionally abused 15 residents with dementia.

Although the Albert Lea case has generated an uproar, Miner said complaints of abuse in nursing homes are unusual, and cases involving multiple victims or abusers are rare.

Last year the Health Department substantiated 68 cases of maltreatment in Minnesota nursing homes, she said. More typical cases involve workers who yell at residents, or shake or strike a resident, sometimes in frustration over difficulty in caring for someone who is confused or combative, she said.

The department's Office of Health Facility Complaints, which conducted the Montevideo investigation, found that the home's managers followed proper procedures when they learned of the abuse. The home is connected to Chippewa County-Montevideo Hospital and Medical Clinic.

Administrator James Flaherty was away from the home Wednesday and no one else there was authorized to talk about the case, officials there said. ..News Source.. by WARREN WOLFE, Star Tribune