The Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating an alleged case of sexual abuse of an elderly resident at a Jacksonville nursing home. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested 35-year-old Anthony Mgugua Njorge early Sunday morning at Regents Park nursing home. He is charged with sexual battery on a mentally impaired and physically helpless victim.

The latest inspection report of Regents Park, conducted by the Florida Agency on Health Care Administration in August, gives the facility just one star out of five in most categories. According to the AHCA website, “The fewer stars a facility receives, the more the facility was found to be in noncompliance with the regulations governing nursing homes.” The Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also publishes a Nursing Home Compare web site that provides additional information to compare nursing homes in Florida and the nation.

In this particular incident, a witness told police she heard something from one of the rooms, and when she went in she saw Njorge engaged in a sexual activity with a woman in the room. The woman is disabled.The witness told police she reached for her cell phone, but Njorge tried to stop her.She was able to make a call and someone else came into the room. That witness told police she saw Njorge cleaning up and then throw something in the disposal room.

DCF Spokesperson John Harrell says his agency has investigated eight allegations of abuse at Regents Park in the past year, though none have been verified.

“Of those eight reports, four showed no findings, but four had some findings, including inadequate supervision [of patients]. That happened a couple of times,” Harrell said.

Njorge also worked at Life Care Center, another Southside nursing home. DCF is now looking into whether the attack is an isolated incident.Police are withholding any further information due to the nature of the crime and the investigation. Njorge remains in jail on a $500,000 bond.

Florida Senior Living Advisor offers a complete searchable database of all senior living facilities in Florida, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, skilled nursing units, independent living, continuing care retirement communities and hospice. As part of your research on particular facilities, you can check their rating in the AHCA guide; of course, you should always visit and inspect a facility in person before making such an important decision.

I just learned that a nursing home in West Palm Beach has been fined $16,000 after a patient was found on the floor with maggots crawling out of his leg cast. An August 2008 report by state regulators determined that Azalea Court Nursing Home failed to provide necessary care to the resident, who had a cast on his lower leg, leading to the infestation of maggots. The patient’s broken leg was supposed to be treated every three days, but the facility could only document weekly treatment.

In April 2008, just four months before the above-mentioned incident report, inspectors cited the 120-bed facility for a series of isolated events that it said “put the health or safety of residents in immediate jeopardy.” The nursing home was put on a “watch list” and given just one out of a possible five stars as its overall inspection grade, including just one star for quality of care and quality of life measurements, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. State regulators gave Azalea Court a “J” grade for protecting residents from mistreatment and having policies to prevent abuse. That grade means there was “immediate jeopardy” to resident’s health or safety for isolated violations. You can find Florida’s watch list and get other state ratings of nursing homes here. Azalea Court has appealed the penalty.
 
I can’t help but wonder if the resident in this case has any family members nearby who oversee his care. I know that when my father fell last fall while living in his continuing care retirement facility, I was there every day afterward to check on his care and rehabilitation at the on-site nursing home. This shouldn’t be necessary – a resident in a senior living facility should get quality care whether there is a relative or friend watching or not; but I can’t help but think that in reality – at least in some senior living facility – it does matter.

What is particularly appalling about this story is the paltry size of the fine – $16,000??!! I’d like to know how state regulators came up with that amount. And more importantly, when the appeals process is complete, will the facility face any fine??