The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
ASSISTED LIVING LOSES LICENSE
‘People should be made aware of this’
Kathy Miller visited her parents often in their nursing home and didn’t always like what she saw.
The Painesville woman has found it necessary to move her parents to three different facilities in the past year because of health and safety concerns at two of the locations.
At the first Lake County facility, she became concerned when officials refused to fix a toilet that wasn’t flushing in her mother’s bathroom.
“It was held together with a rusty safety pin,” she said. “They got offended when I asked that it be repaired, and it was ignored. I also noticed that their meals were lukewarm at best.”
The final straw was when she asked for a bandage and antibiotic ointment for her father and was told they had none.
“I had to go to Giant Eagle for it,” said Miller, a technical writing assistant and member of the Painesville Board of Zoning Appeals.
Her parents, 88-year-old Miriam and 86-year-old Ralph, both
“My mom was there about a month. I realized it was too much for me. I have stairs, and my mother needs a lot of care. It was really hard because I had just gotten them in there and had to hire movers again.” — Kathy Miller, daughter of assisted living patients
have Type 2 diabetes. In addition, her mother has dementia and her father has vascular dementia.
Miller thought things would be better at the next place.
‘I needed to get my mom out’
After visiting several different centers, she decided to put her parents in Adult Loving Care, an eight-bedroom retirement and assisted living facility on Spear Road in Concord Township, in early May.
“It was smaller, and I liked what I saw,” Miller said of Adult Loving Care. “It appeared to be clean, and the residents seemed happy.”
Miller said everything seemed much better at Adult Loving Care.
But just six weeks later, Miller was told by one of the aides that Kimberly Miller (no relation) — the charming woman who toured her around the place and appeared to be the one in charge — was in jail.
“I was obviously concerned. I talked to the woman’s daughter. She told me her mom had tested positive for cocaine and had violated her probation. I looked at the court records and saw she had been convicted of cocaine trafficking. I decided I needed to get my mom out.”
Kimberly Miller pleaded guilty to trafficking in 2013 in Lake County Common Pleas Court and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, drug and mental health treatment and two years probation. On June 23, a warrant for violating her probation was issued.
At this time, Kathy Miller’s father was now in a rehab facility after contracting pneumonia. She decided to move her mother into her apartment.
“My mom was there about a month,” she said. “I realized it was too much for me. I have stairs, and my mother needs a lot of care. It was really hard because I had just gotten them in there and had to hire movers again.”
She was relieved when Adult Loving Care’s license was revoked Oct. 27 by the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services because of findings from a July 10 unannounced visit. There were two residents in the home at the time.
The violations
According to findings from an MHAS document:
• At a July 10 visit, operator Nicole Copley was present. When asked for files of the other two staff members, she only had one for herself. Copley said one of the women was her aunt. The other had prior experience at a long-term care facility, so “she assumed her to be qualified but had no documentation to support that.”
• Copley’s first aid training was past due for renewal at a Sept. 24, 2014, survey. She and another employee were also out of compliance during the July visit for tuberculosis testing requirements.
• Former operator Kimberly Miller, who is Copley’s mother, requested waivers of the Ohio Administrative Code requirement that no residential facility shall employ anyone for 10 years after a drug trafficking conviction. Her waiver requests were denied by the Department of Mental Health. A complaint received on July 6 stated Kimberly Miller “had represented the facility and negotiated the monthly rate for the parents” of Kathy Miller. In addition, the convicted felon
MORE INFORMATION
• View survey information taken from the Ohio LongTerm Care Consumer Guide at www.ltc.ohio.gov. • Visit the Nursing Home Compare Tool at www. medicare.gov for more information on inspection results, staffing and quality measures. • Contact the long-term care ombudsman at 800365-3112. Source: Lake County Council on Aging did provide personal care to the residents and was often the only staff member in the facility.
• No residents were allowed to be admitted to Adult Loving Care after the violations. Yet the facility continued to admit residents while admissions were suspended, and did not inform prospective residents or their families of the order of suspension.
Copley chose not to appeal the license revocation.
The facility is allowed to provide room and board and personal care to two people without mental illness without being licensed, said Eric Wandersleben, director of media relations for the Ohio Department of Mental Health. The sole remaining resident has chosen to stay, he added.
A fresh start?
The three principals of Rocky River-based Jjk Management, LLC have applied to be the new operator of the Concord Township home.
One of the principals, Kelcey Lehrich, said they are remodeling Adult Loving Care, which will be renamed White Oaks Adult Care Facility.
“We’re going to have entirely new staff and new management, and there is remodeling happening right now,” Lehrich said. “There have been a variety of issues there over the years. But the property is fantastic, and it will be a new facility. Our goal is to be licensed and up and running next month.”
Nicole Copley said she will continue to manage Adult Loving Care at least through the transition period, and that she willingly gave up her license because it was too much for her to continue on her own.
“I do love the work,” said Copley. “I have a resident here that I’ve had since March. I love the family, and the family loves me being here. I don’t have it in my heart to walk away.”
The Department of Mental Health has revoked the license of about eight assisted care facilities since Jan. 1, and has proposed revocation of an additional nine facilities since that time, Wandersleben said.
Courts need help
Lake County Probate Court Judge Mark Bartolotta said he gets complaints from time to time from family members with loved ones in such facilities. Some are legitimate, others less so.
As of June 1, the Ohio Supreme Court has required court officials to investigate all complaints about nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Bartolotta said he visited as many facilities as he could personally, even before the new requirements.
The judge said he has a need for more volunteer visitors and guardians to report to Probate Court what they observe at nursing homes.
“Some people might not have anyone to visit them,” Bartolotta said. “(A volunteer) might just sit with them for an hour or read a book with them. It’s more eyes and ears for us. We’re always looking for more volunteers. The demand is great and it’s just going to get greater as the population ages.”
According to the 2010 Census, there were 51,488 people over age 60 in Lake County — more than 22 percent of the county’s total population. This was a 22.9 increase over the 2000 60plus population of 41,892.
Bartolotta had some advice for those seeking housing for an elderly person in their life.
“I think like anything else, you want to shop around,” he said. “You want to talk to people. You want to go out and visit different facilities — whether it’s a nursing home or an assisted living. Talk to people who have been there. Ask people for referrals.
“The more you inform yourself, I think the better decision you’ll make. Too much information is always a good thing.”
As for Kathy Miller, both of her parents are now at a third Lake County facility and so far, she is pleased.
However, she agreed that knowledge is power.
“People should be made aware of this,” she added. “You do your due diligence. You try to find out as much as you can. You really feel betrayed when somebody assures you your parents will be taken care of, and you believe them. You really can’t know until they’re in there. I think the agencies overseeing these places could do better.”
To become a volunteer nursing home visitor or guardian, call Lake County Probate Court at 440-350-2626 or the Lake County Council on Aging at 440-205-8111. Background checks and some training is required each year.
“The more you inform yourself, I think the better decision you’ll make. Too much information is always a good thing.” — Lake County Probate Court Judge Mark Bartolotta