Mistreatment alleged at Legacy; nursing home has not responded to PHP questions

Dec. 21--A federal government consumer site has given Legacy at Town Creek, formerly Cartmell Home for the Aged, poor marks for delivering care to its residents. Overall, Medicare.gov gives Legacy a rating of one out of five stars.

Ratings are based on reports entered by state surveyors, who visit homes annually, or after they receive complaints, to evaluate the quality of care.

On Friday, after reading a Herald-Press online news report, a former resident's daughter alleged serious mistreatment at the nursing home.

Ann Shirey said she admitted her mother, Ruby Hobbs, to Legacy over Labor Day weekend. Shirey had been impressed with the care given her mother-in-law a few years ago, when Cartmell owned the facility.

"One reason I put her in was because I felt they were trained to care for patients with dementia," Shirey told the Herald-Press.

But Shirey took her mother out of Legacy and brought her home four days later, after her mother fell four times. Hobbs, 94, is blind with dementia.

Three of Hobbs' falls occurred near the unit's nurse's station. Shirey said she removed Hobbs on Labor Day, when she found the air conditioner unplugged in the room and Hobbs disrobed. Shirey then took her mother to a hospital emergency room, where staff determined she was dehydrated.

Of the five nursing homes in Anderson County, only one, Greenbrier Nursing & Rehabilitation Center of Palestine, received an average rating of three stars, while three other facilities, Palestine Healthcare Center, Trucare Living Centers, and Elkhart Oaks Care Center also received just one out of five stars.

Medicare.gov describes the five-star rating system as a "snapshot" of the quality of care provided at each nursing home.

Cartmell was sold to Southwest Long Term Care in March of 2018. According to Medicare.gov, the nursing home paid two fines in the last three years totaling $17,546 -- one in 2017 and one in 2019. The skilled nursing facility has 160 Medicare-licensed beds.

Administrator Larry Beltran, who took over management of the facility in 2018, left the job earlier this year. Since then, Wilson Winburne has managed Legacy.

Winburne called the Herald-Press Friday morning, following attempts to reach him, and said he would respond to questions by email. The Herald-Press emailed him a list of questions but received no response.

A Herald-Press reporter visited Legacy Friday afternoon and asked to see Winburne. A receptionist said Winburne had received the questions and would respond to them soon.

The former Cartmell nursing home had served as Palestine's premier facility for more than 70 years. When Cartmell changed ownership, members of its board vowed to continue the home's high-quality care.

The "much below average" rating of the four nursing homes is based on three categories.

In Legacy's case, the first two categories, health inspection and staffing, received two out of five stars, or "below average." In quality measures, the rating was even lower -- just one star out of five, or "much below average."

Marc Gonzalez, a social worker of 17 years and a Legacy employee until July, took a job at Greenbrier after he left Legacy.

Some residents who have moved to Greenbrier from Legacy say the care at Greenbrier is better, he said. Staffing issues can be problematic at any facility, Gonzalez said, but he expressed serious concerns about Legacy.

"This is truly a shame, disgrace, and embarrassment," Gonzalez said. "[The rating] directly affects the facility's ability to provide adequate care to the elderly residents."

Cartmell Foundation still owns and operates Windermere at Cartmell. The Herald-Press will continue to follow this story and attempt to get a response from Legacy.

___

(c)2019 the Palestine Herald-Press (Palestine, Texas)

Visit the Palestine Herald-Press (Palestine, Texas) at www.palestineherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.