Ohio Officials Investigating Alleged Assault in Nursing Home

Ohio state and local officials are investigating a complaint from a woman alleging that her mother was beaten while in the care of a nursing home in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Physical abuse of a nursing home resident is something that should never be tolerated. The nursing home abuse attorneys at PKSD can help you hold negligent facilities accountable for harm done to your loved one while fighting for justice and compensation.

The woman has claimed that a former employee of Westmoreland Place beat her 85-year-old mother, leaving several bruises on her body.

The family discovered the abuse when the woman’s brother brought their mother breakfast on March 12 – something they noted was a routine visit. According to the brother, the nursing home told him that it thought his mother had been abused before he arrived.

Local police conducted an investigation into the incident and asked for the Ohio Attorney General’s involvement as well.

An inspection report by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services noted that the facility failed to protect residents from physical abuse. Two of three residents interviewed in the report cited abuse from the same State Tested Nurse Aide (STNA).

One of the residents included in the report matched the same injuries as the woman’s mother. Medicare’s review of that incident, which was self-reported by the facility, stated that the woman appeared to have suffered abuse after receiving care from an STNA.

The resident reported that the STNA punched and pinched her eyes and hit her head on the bed rails several times. She also suffered punches to the stomach, but was not able to defend herself. The STNA even dumped water on her. The resident reported that the STNA said, “Think of what I am going to do to you in the shower.”

The resident told police that it was dark in the room when the incident happened so she was not able to see her assailant.

Other employees noted that the STNA showed up late for work that day and was acting strangely. She later had blood on her tank top. That same day, she was fired and told to leave the building. Interestingly, the STNA was later found in jail on unrelated charges of burglary, theft, assault and receiving stolen property.

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