RSSNursing Home Abuse | Orlando Accident & Injury Blog - Part 2
Florida Nursing Home Worker Facing Charges in Financial Elder Abuse Case
A nursing home worker in police custody faces several charges in connection with stealing a credit card from one of her patients at the Indigo Palms assisted living facility in Maitland. The woman is accused of using her position at the facility to steal from elderly patients. Police say that she broke into a patient’s room, stole her credit card and went on a shopping spree to buy clothing, office supplies, two cellphones and a family cellphone plan. Police report that she was still in her work scrubs when she was booked into jail.
Florida Investigation Sheds Light on Abuse of Disabled People
James O. Cunningham and other Orlando personal injury lawyers are closely following developments in a case involving abuse at a Central Florida care facility. State officials filed a complaint against the Lake County school and care center for disabled people after receiving numerous complaints about abuse at the facility. They say that complaints from residents about abuse by staff members are nothing new at the Carlton Palms Education Center, located in a remote orange grove outside Mount Dora. State officials began investigating residents’ complaints after hearing that they were being routinely beaten, choked and dragged across the floor at the center. One resident lost a tooth after being struck by a staffer, another reported being tripped by one of the employees and another resident was reportedly struck over the head with a large plastic trash bin until his head was bleeding profusely.
Orange County Nursing Home Forced to Close, Displacing 80 Residents
After years of poor inspection reports, unsafe conditions and numerous incidents of residents wandering away from the facility, an Orange County nursing home has been forced to close its doors by state officials. Around 80 elderly residents who live at the AnnWay Assisted Living Facility near Forrest City Road will have to find another place to live after Florida Agency for Health Care Administration officials revoked the facility’s license.
Florida Man Faces Theft and Elder Abuse Charges After Stealing From Grandmother
Orlando police say that a Seminole County man stole more than $125,000 from his grandmother and went on a shopping spree. Investigators report that the 23-year-old suspect has a substance abuse problem and convinced his grandmother that he owed many thousands of dollars in court fees related to his addiction. They say that the man constructed an elaborate scheme to steal from his 78-year-old grandmother and told her that the funds were necessary to prevent him from being incarcerated. The victim told police that she gave her grandson nearly $180,000 before she became suspicious.
Types of Elder Abuse and Recognizing Them to Help Abuse Victims
There are many nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other types of long-term care here in Florida, and grim stories about elder abuse are a common theme in newspapers and other media outlets. These stories tend to focus on sexual abuse and other prurient topics, but Orlando elder abuse attorney James O. Cunningham would like you to know that there are other types of elder abuse that are no less devastating to victims and their families.
Many Florida Nursing Home Abuse Victims Reluctant to Report Abuse
A recent article published in a Florida newspaper illustrates the scope of our state’s nursing home abuse problems. James O. Cunningham and other Orlando nursing home abuse attorneys have grown increasingly concerned in recent years as reports of elder abuse have become common in media outlets throughout our state. The writer of the article heard from several caregivers who work in assisted living facilities, and what they and some officials had to say had to say was a damning indictment of the nursing home industry in Florida.
Florida Lawmakers Pass Bills to Toughen Nursing Home Abuse
A series of articles published in recent months in the Miami Herald have shed light on elder abuse occurring in many state-run assisted living facilities, and it appears that Florida lawmakers are taking steps to toughen oversight of these facilities. The newspaper found that elder abuse is rampant in state facilities, often with little or no repercussions for the at-fault parties or the state agencies responsible for oversight. Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham was alarmed to learn of the abuse in many state nursing homes and applauds Florida legislators for the recent passage of committee bills 7176 and 7174.
Central Florida Assisted Living Center Worker Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing From Residents
A female employee at an Ormond Beach assisted living center was arrested recently and accused of stealing from people under her care. One of the more egregious accusations came from a 99-year-old resident who told police that the worker had taken her wedding ring off her finger. The accused, a 26-year-old Daytona Beach woman, faces one charge each of grand theft and exploitation of an elderly person, and Ormond Beach police expect to file additional charges against the woman in the near future. Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham would like to remind readers that theft is a form of nursing home abuse. As a longtime nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer serving residents in Central Florida, he has helped countless residents receive the damages they need to recover from the abuse they have suffered and move to other assisted living facilities.
Official Warns That Planned Medicaid Cuts Could Endanger Florida Nursing Home Residents
Current President and CEO of the American Health Care Association and former Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson cautioned Floridians recently about the effects that planned cuts in Medicaid could have on our state’s nursing home residents. Parkinson recently delivered his address at the Florida Health Care Association conference in Orlando and echoed some of the concerns that Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham has also had regarding how the cuts could endanger seniors in our state’s assisted living facilities. Parkinson told attendees that the average profit margin for a nursing home in Florida is two percent. This is why the planned cuts to Medicare and Medicaid from federal and state agencies could harm seniors as few of them have private insurance to supplement the costs of their care.
Report Finds Convicted Criminals Working in 90 Percent of Nursing Homes
CBS News recently reported on a government finding revealing that nine in ten nursing homes in the U.S. employ people with criminal convictions. Investigators conducting the report ran background checks on workers employed at more than 260 nursing homes across the U.S. and found that 92 percent of the facilities had at least one worker on the payroll that had a criminal conviction in the past. This report stunned Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham and is a source of concern for all nursing home attorneys in Florida given the percentage of senior citizens living in our state.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.