Felons found working in elder care
By Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News
June 1, 2005
Cox vows to tighten laws after thousands with warrants identified in state nursing homes.
LANSING - A yearlong study by Attorney General Mike Cox has revealed that workers accused or convicted of felonies such as abuse, illegal drug use and other offenses are caring for vulnerable, elderly patients despite state efforts to screen nursing home and adult foster care workers.
His findings parallel those of a Detroit News investigation in November that revealed an unnoticed epidemic of malnutrition and dehydration had killed nearly 14,000 nursing home patients between 1999 and 2002, including 800 in Michigan. The News discovered that, as in the case of required background checks for workers, state regulations have failed to prevent inattention and abuse.
Using records in the Law Enforcement Information Network, attorney general staff members project that as many as 3,500 of Michigan's 40,490 certified nurse's aides - those most directly involved in nursing home patient care - have outstanding criminal warrants. As many as 607 are accused of crimes that would bar them from working in nursing homes under current law, Cox estimates.
The statewide estimates are extrapolated from a sampling of 5,533 certified nurse aides in the Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Detroit areas. To test the accuracy of those findings, Cox says his staff then conducted background checks on all the direct-care employees of four nursing homes.
"It's really disturbing that many people with an outstanding warrant or a criminal history are working in nursing homes unbeknownst to the operators or for operators who are callously allowing them to do so," Cox said.
He called the findings "stunning," especially in view of the tens of thousands of baby boom generation Michiganians who are approaching retirement and expected eventually to swell the demand for institutional care. About 100,000 Michiganians already live in nursing homes, adult foster care facilities and homes for the aged.
"If we're not looking closely at things as basic as criminal history (of workers), what other things are we missing?" Cox said.
As proof the new laws haven't made things better, a quarter of all workers charged with crimes against residents since May 2002 had backgrounds involving retail fraud, drug abuse, illegal use of weapons, homicide and other crimes, Cox says.
A representative of the state's nursing home association said additional regulations Cox proposes would be a burden for facility operators already facing a 4 percent cut in the state Medicaid allotment for long-term care.
"I think his intent is in the right place, but the state has to give us a way to do that," said Kristen Parker, communications director for the Health Care Association of Michigan. "We obviously want to provide as safe a place as possible for our patients."
Examples of cases included in Cox's study:
• Jeffrey Wolos, a unit supervisor at Medilodge nursing home in Howell, was accused of stealing prescription pain killers from hospice patients after other employees found him comatose on a bathroom floor in December 2003. Authorities said he injected himself with narcotics he siphoned from pain patches, and then put the diminished or empty patches back on the patients. Wolos, 32, of Swartz Creek pleaded guilty to a felony controlled substance violation and patient abuse, for which he is to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence today in Livingston County.
• Michelle Thomas-Hicks, former medical records clerk for the Cambridge East Health Care Center in Madison Heights, was accused last March of making unauthorized electronic withdrawals from a 91-year-old resident's checking account for debts and to pay for telephone, TV and Internet services. She also used a 74-year-old patient's name and credit history to help her buy a car, police said. Hicks, a 33-year-old Riverview resident, was convicted of identity theft last year in Wayne County. She's on two years' probation, barred from jobs that provide access to finances and ordered to perform 125 hours of community service. She also was assessed about $400 in fees and court costs.
• A former southeast Michigan nursing home administrator was convicted of Medicaid fraud for filing false statements regarding nursing staff levels. Despite being on a five-year sanction against working in federally supported health care programs, Cox says, she now is a corporate consultant to several nursing homes eligible for Medicare and Medicaid funds.
Cox wants to expand Michigan laws to include such crimes as drug abuse as reasons to prohibit nursing homes from hiring workers who'd be involved in patient care.
Current laws only prevent nursing homes from hiring people whose offenses involve abuse of older and vulnerable residents, he says.
He wants to eliminate a "grandfather" provision that prevents nursing homes from getting rid of workers convicted of crimes before the 2002 and 2004 laws took effect. He'll recommend stiffer penalties for those who abuse vulnerable citizens.
Background checks should be required once a year for all nursing home patient care workers, and also for other employees who could take advantage of residents even though not regularly involved in direct care, Cox also says.
He plans to work with lawmakers on a package of nursing home bills to be introduced before the Legislature recesses for the summer at the end of June.
By Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News
June 1, 2005
Cox vows to tighten laws after thousands with warrants identified in state nursing homes.
LANSING - A yearlong study by Attorney General Mike Cox has revealed that workers accused or convicted of felonies such as abuse, illegal drug use and other offenses are caring for vulnerable, elderly patients despite state efforts to screen nursing home and adult foster care workers.
His findings parallel those of a Detroit News investigation in November that revealed an unnoticed epidemic of malnutrition and dehydration had killed nearly 14,000 nursing home patients between 1999 and 2002, including 800 in Michigan. The News discovered that, as in the case of required background checks for workers, state regulations have failed to prevent inattention and abuse.
Using records in the Law Enforcement Information Network, attorney general staff members project that as many as 3,500 of Michigan's 40,490 certified nurse's aides - those most directly involved in nursing home patient care - have outstanding criminal warrants. As many as 607 are accused of crimes that would bar them from working in nursing homes under current law, Cox estimates.
The statewide estimates are extrapolated from a sampling of 5,533 certified nurse aides in the Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Detroit areas. To test the accuracy of those findings, Cox says his staff then conducted background checks on all the direct-care employees of four nursing homes.
"It's really disturbing that many people with an outstanding warrant or a criminal history are working in nursing homes unbeknownst to the operators or for operators who are callously allowing them to do so," Cox said.
He called the findings "stunning," especially in view of the tens of thousands of baby boom generation Michiganians who are approaching retirement and expected eventually to swell the demand for institutional care. About 100,000 Michiganians already live in nursing homes, adult foster care facilities and homes for the aged.
"If we're not looking closely at things as basic as criminal history (of workers), what other things are we missing?" Cox said.
As proof the new laws haven't made things better, a quarter of all workers charged with crimes against residents since May 2002 had backgrounds involving retail fraud, drug abuse, illegal use of weapons, homicide and other crimes, Cox says.
A representative of the state's nursing home association said additional regulations Cox proposes would be a burden for facility operators already facing a 4 percent cut in the state Medicaid allotment for long-term care.
"I think his intent is in the right place, but the state has to give us a way to do that," said Kristen Parker, communications director for the Health Care Association of Michigan. "We obviously want to provide as safe a place as possible for our patients."
Examples of cases included in Cox's study:
• Jeffrey Wolos, a unit supervisor at Medilodge nursing home in Howell, was accused of stealing prescription pain killers from hospice patients after other employees found him comatose on a bathroom floor in December 2003. Authorities said he injected himself with narcotics he siphoned from pain patches, and then put the diminished or empty patches back on the patients. Wolos, 32, of Swartz Creek pleaded guilty to a felony controlled substance violation and patient abuse, for which he is to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence today in Livingston County.
• Michelle Thomas-Hicks, former medical records clerk for the Cambridge East Health Care Center in Madison Heights, was accused last March of making unauthorized electronic withdrawals from a 91-year-old resident's checking account for debts and to pay for telephone, TV and Internet services. She also used a 74-year-old patient's name and credit history to help her buy a car, police said. Hicks, a 33-year-old Riverview resident, was convicted of identity theft last year in Wayne County. She's on two years' probation, barred from jobs that provide access to finances and ordered to perform 125 hours of community service. She also was assessed about $400 in fees and court costs.
• A former southeast Michigan nursing home administrator was convicted of Medicaid fraud for filing false statements regarding nursing staff levels. Despite being on a five-year sanction against working in federally supported health care programs, Cox says, she now is a corporate consultant to several nursing homes eligible for Medicare and Medicaid funds.
Cox wants to expand Michigan laws to include such crimes as drug abuse as reasons to prohibit nursing homes from hiring workers who'd be involved in patient care.
Current laws only prevent nursing homes from hiring people whose offenses involve abuse of older and vulnerable residents, he says.
He wants to eliminate a "grandfather" provision that prevents nursing homes from getting rid of workers convicted of crimes before the 2002 and 2004 laws took effect. He'll recommend stiffer penalties for those who abuse vulnerable citizens.
Background checks should be required once a year for all nursing home patient care workers, and also for other employees who could take advantage of residents even though not regularly involved in direct care, Cox also says.
He plans to work with lawmakers on a package of nursing home bills to be introduced before the Legislature recesses for the summer at the end of June.
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