Families at the Windsor Locks nursing home where 93-year-old Margaret "Peggy" Healy later froze to death had been raising concerns for more than a year, according to Connecticut Long-Term Care Ombudsman Mairead Painter. But Painter says many were too afraid to formally complain because they feared retaliation against their loved ones.
Painter’s comments come days after two former employees of the now-closed Bickford Health Care Center were criminally charged in connection with Healy's death. Prosecutors allege Healy, who had dementia, wandered outside during subzero temperatures in February and remained in a snowbank for more than three hours before being found. Authorities also allege staff delayed calling 911 for more than an hour.
Painter said her office had been working with families long before the tragedy and had followed up on several complaints.
"We had been receiving them regularly," Painter said. "We need to meet with the resident or the resident representative and have permission from them to move forward. And so they were leery there. They were afraid of retaliation."
Painter said relatives worried that complaining would jeopardize the care their family members received or even force the nursing home's closure.
"There was a real sense of, if we complain too much, the management has told us... the state's going to close us, and then we'll lose the home," she said.
Staffing concerns preceded tragedy
Painter said staffing shortages were among the recurring concerns raised by residents' families before Healy's death.
"We knew for months that they weren't staffing well there," she said.
That the state Department of Public Health was already investigating complaints when the incident occurred, she said, and the facility was put on an improvement plan.
While arrest warrants allege an alarm failed and an employee entrance was left propped open, Painter said technology should never substitute for adequate staffing.
"Alarms can be backup. They can be support, but we shouldn't be relying on them to be the oversight for individuals," she said.
Calls for stronger staffing standards
Painter said Bickford's problems highlight broader challenges facing some nursing homes across Connecticut.
She said the state's minimum staffing requirement of three-hours of care per resident each day falls short of research suggesting residents need at least 4.1 hours.
"When we hear from residents that their care plans aren't being met... because there's not enough staff, that continues to be an ongoing issue for us," Painter said.
Painter said facilities that offer competitive wages, benefits and adequate staffing generally do not struggle to retain workers. She argued accountability should extend beyond frontline employees when poor staffing levels contribute to neglect.
"I want to make sure that in this case, in all cases, we look at not only the individuals in the home who are making decisions during that time, but who put them in that position and what was the availability to have appropriate staff," she said.
Connecticut has a law that allows officials to prosecute management that puts frontline healthcare staff and patients into dangerous positions, she said, but she can’t recall a time when someone had been convicted under that statute.
Painter also said she is working with legislators and Healy's family on possible policy changes, including examining whether stronger safeguards are needed for hiring and oversight of nursing home employees.
This conversation is part of our ongoing coverage of caregiving and aging in Connecticut. Explore more stories and conversations at ctpublic.org/caregiving.
