Failure to Protect Residents from Misappropriation and Exploitation
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to protect residents from misappropriation of property and exploitation in two separate incidents involving two residents. In the first case, a resident with a diagnosis of dementia, assessed as moderately cognitively impaired, reported that her debit card account was depleted after she gave her card to a nurse aide to pay a utility bill. The nurse aide used the card for unauthorized purchases totaling over $2,200, including groceries, retail items, and rent payments. The resident became aware of the missing funds after checking her account balance and confronted the aide, who did not provide an explanation. Multiple staff members were informed of the incident, and the matter was reported to local law enforcement. The aide was suspended and later terminated following the investigation, and the resident was reimbursed for the unauthorized transactions. In the second incident, another resident, who was cognitively intact and had multiple medical diagnoses, was approached by a nurse aide who requested money to feed her children. The resident gave the aide $65 after being told $20 would not be sufficient. The aide promised to repay the money but did not do so and instructed the resident to misrepresent the reason for the transaction to other staff. The aide was suspended and subsequently terminated after the incident was reported and substantiated by facility staff. However, the facility did not reimburse the resident for the money given to the aide, with the administrator stating that the money was given voluntarily. Both incidents were substantiated through staff interviews, resident statements, and review of facility records. The facility's failure to prevent staff from soliciting or misusing residents' funds resulted in financial loss and emotional distress for the residents involved. The facility's policies defined such actions as exploitation and misappropriation of property, yet the protections in place were insufficient to prevent these occurrences.