Alleged Victim of Nursing Home Abuse Dies

Christina Cole

Contributor

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A worker at Highlands of Brighton claimed a male nurse abused two nursing home residents last Thursday. A spokesperson for Strong Health, Teri D'Agostino, said, "What was alleged was very harsh treatment... physical abuse."

One of the residents died, two days later. Strong said, the woman had serious medical issues and her death wasn't unexpected. She was examined after the alleged abuse complaint. Although the hospital didn't find any evidence of abuse, the nurse was terminated.

"A decision was made to terminate the worker. It was found on several occasions that he used harsh language with residents. That won't be tolerated," D'Agostino said.

The nurse who was fired had only been at the Highlands at Brighton a few months and was still on probation. No other workers were disciplined according to D'Agostino. She also said employees are encouraged to report any incidents of alleged abuse.

The state health department's investigation is expected to take several weeks. The state attorney general's office Medicaid fraud unit is also involved. Also, Strong will hire an outside agency to investigate the alleged abuse. The nursing home is licensed to provide skilled care to 114 residents, most of whom have severe dementia and other acute care needs.