The Star Tribune reports that Saint Therese nursing home in New Hope, Minnesota has — again — failed to protect its residents from harm. The report discloses that hidden camera video evidence caught repeated instances of “brutal treatment” of the nursing home’s residents, including:
- An “85-year-old patient with a severe cognitive disability was repeatedly punched in the face and stomach, causing visible cuts and bruises, while another patient had a bath towel thrown in her face, among other abuse”;
- “Other employees at St. Therese of New Hope were caught on video talking on their personal cellphones rather than providing necessary care”;
- “Members of the facility’s staff witnessed the abuse late last June but did not immediately report the incidents, a violation of state law”;
- “The incidents led to the firing and criminal charges against two St. Therese employees, as well as the dismissal of another eight for failing to report the offenses or for using cellphones in patient rooms”;
- “The decision to install hidden cameras at St. Therese, which has 258 beds, stemmed from a series of suspicious injuries spotted by the daughter of the victims. Last summer, she had asked staff about several unexplained bruises and abrasions on her father, and she ‘was not provided any reasonable explanation’”;
- “After installing hidden cameras, the daughter became so concerned about what she saw on video that she spent the night at the facility. In one incident, two employees were providing incontinence care for the elderly male patient, when one of them yanked him upward in the bed, jabbed at his chest with an open hand and punched him in the stomach with a closed fist. The other staff member did not immediately report the abuse after seeing it.”
- An “employee threw a towel at an 82-year-old female patient who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was cognitively impaired. When the patient threw it back, the staff member balled up the towel and again threw it forcefully at the patient’s face”;
- Video “also shows a staff member jerking a water glass out of the patient’s hand in an abrupt manner, with the patient crying”;
- Although “St. Therese leadership learned of the abuse in late June and immediately suspended two employees but failed to explore whether abuse had occurred in other units where these employees worked”.
Kosieradzki Smith reported on this abuse at Saint Therese nursing home in July 2015. Click here to read that blog.
For more details about Saint Therese’s troubled history, click here.
This is not the first investigation of Saint Therese of New Hope. In April 2014, 92 year-old World War II veteran and Kosieradzki Smith client, Bill Lacina, was nearly drugged to death at Saint Therese when he was given narcotics, something which he was never prescribed. He was admitted to North Memorial Medical Center’s emergency department where he was treated for a narcotic overdose.
To read the full article on Fox9.com, click here.
To read more about Bill Lacina’s incident at Saint Therese, click here.
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes like Saint Therese and other care facilities that fail to protect their residents from harm. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home or other care facility, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
