From the San Diego Union Tribune
Elder abuse charged at nursing home
Hidden video camera used in investigation; 12 employees arrested
By Cheryl Clark
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 9, 2004
ESCONDIDO â A sting operation by the state attorney general, which for the first time used a hidden video camera to investigate skilled nursing care, resulted this week in the arrest of 12 employees of a nursing home here on felony charges of elder abuse.
According to documents filed in Superior Court, the allegations involve the care of elderly patient Maria Mendoza at SunBridge Care & Rehabilitation on East Ohio Street between Oct. 16 and 21 last year.
The 12 employees "did, under circumstances and conditions likely to produce great bodily harm and death .Â.Â. willfully cause and permit her to be placed in a situation in which her health was endangered," the documents allege.
Ten of the defendants were also charged with a misdemeanor count of falsifying Mendoza's medical records. The charges were part of a grand jury indictment.
James Angello, Percy Anyayahan, Joel Chy, Elizabeth Figueroa, Maria Gamino, Lilia Johnson, Kevin Kempton, Lorena Perez, Liria Ramos, Rabia Safi, Donna Tabagan and Diaura Wong were taken to the Vista jail and await arraignment Tuesday, according to Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
Scott Kempton declined comment on behalf of his brother yesterday. None of those arrested could be reached for comment.
Jordan said the charges involve "subtle acts of omission and neglect" that did not endanger the patient's life, but would have if they had been allowed to continue. The patient's family was aware of the investigation and had given its consent.
Shortly after the videotaping, an open investigation began and the patient's care "improved dramatically," Jordan said. She added that the investigation is continuing and additional charges may be filed.
Jordan said Lockyer's office had received "complaints from other sources about some of the care that was provided at this facility, and we launched this investigation as a result."
Neither SunBridge nor its parent company, Sun Healthcare Group, has been charged as a result of the investigation.
In a separate action, state licensing and certification officials with the Department of Health Services also began an investigation this week of the SunBridge facility.
SunBridge Care & Rehabilitation for Escondido East is a skilled nursing facility authorized by Medicare and is part of a national chain with about 80 California properties and 8,000 residents. The home in Escondido is listed on a Medicare Web site as having 98 certified beds.
Jordan said yesterday's arrests were the result of a secret surveillance the Attorney General's Office conducted to make sure that SunBridge's parent company was complying with a 2001 court order.
That order resulted from civil and criminal actions against Sun Healthcare Group after Lockyer issued more than 100 citations against its San Mateo facility involving the treatment of its residents.
In an ensuing injunction, SunBridge agreed to many operational changes to assure the health and well-being of its residents, Jordan said.
Terri Kern, a spokeswoman for the SunBridge nursing home in Escondido, yesterday said that 12 employees were arrested Tuesday and have been released from jail. Their arrests did not take place at SunBridge, she said.
The workers are on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation, said Kern, who did not have details on the charges against them.
"All I can share with you is that we have been cooperating with the Department of Justice," Kern said. She said officials first visited SunBridge in Escondido last fall.
