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Scalding Cereal Probed In Patient Death
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
myfoxphilly.com
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. - There is a petition to exhume the body of an elderly Alzheimer's patient. Officials say he died days after being fed scalding-hot cereal by a worker at a Montgomery County facility.
Sad state of care
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Pittsburgh Tribune
It was not surprising to read the Trib's excellent report on the problems our senior citizens and those with disabilities encounter every day in our state's nursing homes and assisted-living facilities ("Care for elderly lacking ," Feb. 15 and PghTrib.com).
Unfortunately, the description of how our loved ones are abused in these facilities covered just a few examples of the unbearable conditions that have long been found in Pennsylvania's array of poor performing personal-care homes.
You can read more horrifying stories from citizens who are appalled at the current state of assisted-living facilities at paassistedlivingconsumeralliance.org.
When will all of this end?
The Trib's reporting simply serves to point out that the state can no longer tolerate deficiencies in care, resident neglect or deplorable conditions in our assisted-living facilities and personal-care homes. We must be able to live without the fear that these facilities will harm the vulnerable populations that rely on them for care.
Standards must be established to ensure an adequate number of well-trained staff; that specific care needs are correctly identified and properly addressed; and that residents' rights and responsibilities are recognized and respected.
It is time the Department of Public Welfare listens to the many individuals and organizations that are asking for stronger regulations governing these homes.
It is also time state leadership acknowledged the voices of so many citizens who want to know that Pennsylvania is committed to ensuring that assisted-living homes will be required to care safely and appropriately for their loved ones.
M. Francesca Chervenak
Downtown
The writer is director of client representation and community education at the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.
The vulnerable & adequate housing
Jan. 27, 2009
Philadelphia Daily News
WHEN PERSONAL-care-facility offender Rosalind Lavin paid a fine and signed a promise never to open another personal-care home, we thought we'd heard the last of her.
But just in time for the holidays came news of the death of Roy Parker, a homeless man who, thinking he'd get a fresh start, took a room in an illegal rooming house Lavin ran in Roxborough. For $450 a month, he got a room with no heat, no fire alarms and no smoke detectors. He was found dead in his room on Dec. 22.
Pa.'s planned assisted living rules fall far short of what's needed
Dec. 24, 2008
Philadelphia Inquirer
Imagine officials telling you that two recent deaths are under investigation at the assisted-living facility that's home to your ailing parent or grandparent.
For several dozen families, such a scenario played out this month at Willow Crest Manor in Willow Grove. The state shut down the facility, which has more than 50 beds, after two deaths and a long list of alleged violations, including understaffing and improperly dispensed medications. The owner is fighting to get his license back.
Stronger regulations
December 18, 2008
Philadelphia Inquirer
We're glad to hear that the Department of Public Welfare has closed down Willow Crest Manor after the horrific deaths of two of its residents ("Personal-care home closed in Montco," Friday). Willow Crest had a long history of abuse and neglect allegations, and should have been shut down well before lives were lost.
This highlights the need for the state to no longer tolerate deficiencies in care, neglect or deplorable conditions in such homes. It is time the department listened to the many Pennsylvania citizens who want stronger regulations governing these homes.
Alissa Halperin - PA Assisted Living Consumer Alliance
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Montco may cut assisted living care; offer similar service at private facilities
December 17, 2008
The Morning Call
Montgomery County next year plans to end its assisted living care to 71 residents because it can't afford to continue offering the service, Commissioner Chairman James Matthews said Tuesday.
Proposed regulations for assisted living need revision
December 8, 2008
Daily Local News
A little over a year ago, on July 30, 2007, I reported that assisted living had recently been officially recognized in Pennsylvania with the passage of Act 56 of that year.
See "Assisted Living Officially Arrives in Pennsylvania," which can be viewed at www.collitonlaw.com.
What most people did not realize is that, before that time, assisted living did not formally exist here. It has been just a subcategory of personal care homes.
New laws would change senior care
October 28, 2008
Erie Times News
A dresser, vanity and two chairs fit snugly in Eleen Prittie's tidy room.
The furniture came with Prittie, 97, when she moved into Brevillier Village, a Harborcreek Township retirement community, about three years ago.
The rest of her belongings are either in storage or have been given to family members.
"I'd like to have more of my own things in here," Prittie said as she sat in a wheelchair. "But there isn't room."
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