Elderly Resident Found in Freezer at Upscale Nursing Home
She's doing fine now, and an investigation is underway.
 Silverado Senior Living Facility (KTLA-TV) |
CALABASAS -- Police are trying to figure out how a 94-year-old woman ended up inside a freezer at an upscale retirement home in Calabasas.
It happened at the Silverado Senior Living Facility, located at 25100 Calabasas Road.
94-year-old resident Mollye Fisher went missing on October 28. Employees finally found her inside the living facility's walk-in freezer.
It's unclear how long Fisher was inside the freezer. It is set at 5 degrees, with a running fan, according to staff.
Fisher was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
She has since been released, and is back at Silverado.
Now, investigators are trying to figure out how she got in the freezer in the first place.
"It's a very unfortunate thing to have happened," Jim Ayers told KTLA. His wife has been a resident at Silverado for two years.
The cost of care there is close to $70,000 per year.
Still, Ayers said, it's almost impossible for employees to keep their eyes on residents 24/7.
"There's no way you can have 100% security on people unless you are one-on-one with them all the time, and that's very costly to the patient."
Managers told KTLA the locks on the doors leaving into the kitchen weren't working, and were going to be replaced the next morning.
It's believed that's when Fisher, who suffers from dementia, slipped inside.
Silverado's Senior Vice President Mark Mostow told KTLA: "We immediately conducted an investigation, and took appropriate corrective action against two employees. It's an unfortunate incident, and we're very sorry that it happened, and we'll do everything in our power to ensure this does not happen again."
The State Dept. of Social Services is now investigating. Depending on their findings, the facility could be fined or forced to shut down.
This isn't the first time Silverado has made headlines in recent years.
Less than a year after former caregiver Cesar Ulloa was convicted of torture and elder abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment