Minnesota Assisted Living Assault
Facilities deal with people with cognitive deficiencies with a wide range of abilities and risks for each resident assisted living assault risks. Some residents are very mobile and active and other need assistance with transfer and other activities of daily living.
Despite the fact that many assisted living care providers charge more for a room and care than a nursing home there is a trade off you are getting a nicer room and usually newer more luxurious dining room and other areas but there very little training required to be a staff member in the facility.
According to Minnesota Statute 144G.03, Subd. 2, assisted living shall be provided or made available only to individuals residing in a registered housing with services establishment. Except as expressly stated in this chapter, a person or entity offering assisted living may define the available services and may offer assisted living to all or some of the residents of a housing with services establishment. The services that comprise assisted living may be provided or made available directly by a housing with services establishment or by persons or entities with which the housing with services establishment has made arrangements.
Assisted Living Assault by Other Residents
Due to medications and perception issues such as hearing and vision, perhaps a change in environment or other difficulties persons in elder care facilities especially those with Alzheimer’s and dementia may get anxious and irritable and strike out at staff and other residents. Or the assault may be in the form of inappropriate sexual contact or verbal abuse from residents who have lost some of their social filters. Assisted living facilities have an obligation to keep residents safe and to supervise the other residents with the goal of as little confrontation as possible. This may involve separating residents that are a risk to others and perhaps discharging them to a facility with more supervision if there is a risk to fellow residents.
Assisted Living Assault by Staff Members
There are also of course situations where staff members take advantage of the fact that resident’s may be confusion or have other cognitive issues that make them very vulnerable to sexual assault. Staff members should have background checks to limit the ability of persons with a known history to have contact with the residents. However, the backgrounds are not always performed in a timely manner, or there are new criminal issues that show up once the staff member is hired, or the report is missing key information from other states or countries. Then there are the staff that had never been caught abusing before but lacked the supervision of the staff and their actions which fostered an environment for those with a propensity to attempt abuse.
Residents need to be properly assessed, and then the staff needs to be well trained then supervised by protective management to assure the safety of all the residents. Minnesota is a one person consent video state which means that you can place a hidden camera in the room of a resident. The room in an assisted living facility is a private space just like an apartment in any other building and the resident can have a hidden camera if the resident and/or their legal representative consents to the recording.
Assisted Living Sexual Assault Reporting
Pursuant to Minn. Statute 144.7065, Subd. 7, potential criminal events, events reportable under this subdivision are:
(1) any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other licensed health care provider;
(2) abduction of a patient of any age;
(3) sexual assault on a patient within or on the grounds of a facility; and
(4) death or serious injury of a patient or staff member resulting from a physical assault that occurs within or on the grounds of a facility.
In addition to the reporting requirements for the facility you should also report any sexual or physical abuse to the local police department and the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Health Facility Complaints, OHFC. See the attached for more information about reporting elder abuse and neglect.
Assisted Living Assault Attorney
If you have questions about physical abuse or assualt in a assisted living facility or other elder provider or nursing home or other elder abuse and neglect issues contact Kenneth LaBore for a free consultation. There is no fee unless there is a verdict or settlement offer from the wrongdoer. Mr. LaBore can be reached directly at 612-743-9048 or toll free at 1-888-452-6589 or by email at KLaBore@MNnursinghomeneglect.com.
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