WWII vet Adam Bennett’s experience offers a tragic example of troubles at many of Georgia’s senior care homes.

On some nights, workers at the Sunrise at East Cobb assisted living facility struggled to keep a close watch on the frail, elderly people entrusted to their care.

One staff member said she desperately needed more help on the overnight shift after a resident wasn’t immediately noticed after she fell and bloodied her head. And one worker called a supervisor on a Friday to say she was alone on the night shift because two other workers had stepped out, apparently to go clubbing, according to a deposition. Read more »

AJC investigation of senior care facilities finds 600 cases of neglect, many at upscale homes.

The marketing pitches can be enticing: saltwater pools, nature trails and on-site theaters. They tout chefs who prepare culinary masterpieces, employees who are steeped in Southern charm and hospitality.

Drawn to gleaming facilities with resort-like amenities, thousands have entrusted their aging spouses, parents and grandparents to assisted living communities and large personal care homes that have popped up across Georgia in recent years. While the price is high — families pay $3,000-$8,000 a month — it’s worth it for many seeking security and peace of mind.

But too often, families have found an overburdened staff treating loved ones with callousness or ineptitude, while safeguards were ignored and promises broken. Read more »

Georgia’s regulators and public safety agencies know quite a lot about problems at the state’s private-pay senior care facilities.

Reports of abuse and unexpected deaths and injuries. Fire safety violations. Missing dementia patients. Thefts. Outbreaks of contagious disease. Dirty dining areas.

But even if you are looking for this information, you might not find it. Families facing the gut-wrenching process of placing a loved one in a personal care or assisted living home in Georgia are up against a tremendous disadvantage: a haphazard system of accountability that gives low priority to transparency and informing the public.

“We want people to be savvy consumers, and we want their money to last as long as possible, and we want them to have the best quality of life,” said Melanie McNeil, Georgia’s state long-term care ombudsman, whose office advocates for residents. “You can’t make a responsible choice if you do not have the information you need.” Read more »

Suspicious deaths and allegations of mistreatment in senior care facilities can routinely go unreported to law enforcement and prosecutors, a breakdown that allows abusive or neglectful caregivers to escape punishment and continue to work around seniors, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found.

There’s no public record that police were notified in 40% of physical and sexual abuse allegations detailed in inspection reports by the Georgia Department of Community Health. Neglect was even less likely to be reported. Spot checks of law enforcement agencies showed that cases of neglect described in DCH reports, such as residents being left in filthy conditions or denied medical attention, were often unreported, even though intentional neglect of the elderly is a crime.

The AJC reviewed dozens of other cases across the state of residents with bruises and bloody accidents that the homes simply could not explain. All the cases were serious enough to catch the attention of state inspectors. But Georgia’s elder abuse system rarely got the chance to decide if these acts rose to the level of crimes because police were not called and prosecutors weren’t notified. Read more »

Care suffered as investors got squeezed by rising costs, competition

The Lodge at Aspen Village seemed like a smart-money investment as the first wave of baby boomers started to retire.

Senior housing had a growing reputation as a lucrative sector of real estate, and The Lodge in 2013 seemed perfectly positioned to capitalize on the aging population of Atlanta’s suburbs. Read more »

Few consequences from state when seniors harmed in care facilities

A case involving a vulnerable senior’s unexpected death and a violation of regulations might seem like a serious case that would trigger an urgent investigation.

But in Georgia, a speeding ticket could have been a bigger deal. Read more »

A day after a violent episode at a Cobb County assisted living facility resulted in a 72-year-old with Alzheimer’s being hospitalized, Smyrna police arrived to investigate.

They gathered no physical evidence. Made no request for video or records. Expressed no interest in interviewing the employee involved in the altercation. And within a couple of minutes of fact-finding, officers concluded there was no crime. They made their determination based on the facility director’s statement of what happened, according to police records.

The only reason we would do a report is to kind of keep y’all safe,” one officer explained to Elaine Austin, executive director of Provident Village at Creekside, in a conversation captured on police bodycam video.

Another officer told Austin the police report would document the incident in case “this resident’s family was to come in and try do something … so it doesn’t become a big thing as to why it wasn’t documented.”

Eighteen days later, the resident, Ronald West, died of complications from a head injury suffered in the scuffle. An autopsy would later classify his death as a homicide, a determination that West died because of the actions of another person. Read more »

Dear members of the Georgia legislature:

Today, you gather under the Gold Dome to begin another important legislative session.

That’s why we’re taking an extraordinary step and using today’s front page to urge you to repair the broken system that should protect vulnerable residents of the state’s assisted living and large personal care homes.

You have an opportunity to make this reform the centerpiece of your leadership this year.

Because lives are at stake, this issue should rank at least as high as the state Constitution’s requirement to pass a balanced budget.

It is that important. Read more »