Published: February 16, 2009 08:05 pm            

Assisted living facility in Whitfield target of state investigators again

State officials are again investigating an assisted living facility on Reed Road where narcotics were alleged to have been stolen from residents last year.

Whitfield 911 received a call at 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8, that “a person was down” at Pleasant Valley Assisted Living. “An elderly female was laying outside,” a dispatcher said in a report based on the call.

The sheriff’s office, EMS and Fire Station No. 1 responded, arriving at 4:53 a.m. The 911 dispatcher told the units a “caretaker advised the female has Alzheimer’s and is having pain all over.” The woman was taken to Hamilton Medical Center. It was unclear from the report how long she was on the ground.

EMS director Jeffrey Putnam said officials with the sheriff’s office and EMS unit contacted adult protective services with the county Department of Family and Children Services about the incident. On Monday, a spokeswoman with the Office of Regulatory Services of the state Department of Human Resources said an investigation is under way.

“There is an ongoing investigation of Pleasant Valley Assisted Living center,” said Taka Wiley of DHR. “That’s all I can say at this point.”

Tracey Dawn, the owner of Pleasant Valley, said officials there filed a detailed report with the state the day after the woman was found. She called the incident an “unfortunate accident.”

“She had never wandered before,” Dawn said. “We have measures in place to prevent people from wandering, however she was not a wandering risk so she didn’t have the WanderGuard watch on or a call pendant. Her family chose not to choose that option because she hadn’t wandered.”

The WanderGuard and call pendants are monitoring systems for individuals in settings such as hospitals and nursing homes.

Asked how the woman got outside the facility, Dawn said, “She walked. We have the WanderGuard watches and once somebody leaves the safety zone the watches will go off and will alert the staff pagers. However, her family did not use that option for her because she hadn’t wandered. She’s been in our facility ... for quite a while.” Dawn could not immediately say how long and did not want to provide a wrong figure, she said.

“It was unusual behavior for her,” Dawn said.

She said she did not know exactly how long the woman was outside.

“I’ll leave all that to the investigation,” she said.

Dawn said family members of the woman want her to return to the facility after she finishes rehabilitation.

“That says a lot,” she said.

On Oct. 2 of last year, Pleasant Valley manager Wayne Hardwick Dawn Jr. was charged with six felony counts of cruelty to a person 65 or older, six misdemeanor counts of theft by taking, six misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct, three counts of felony possession of hydrocodone, one felony count of possession of darvocet and two felony counts of possession of tramodol.

The sheriff’s office was contacted then by a concerned family member of a resident. An undercover investigation included audio and video surveillance.

None of the residents became ill as a result of their drugs being allegedly stolen, said Maj. John Gibson with the sheriff’s office.

        

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