Did Striking Workers Abuse Nursing Home Patients?

Did someone in two separate Connecticut nursing homes purposely endangered patients? Reported in the Hartford Courant, Danbury and Newington police records indicate workers switched or removed patient name tags and interfered with medical records of patient just before the staff went on strike. Additionally, less dangerous forms of sabotage were discovered by the nursing home directors including hidden equipment needed for patient care.

Due to privacy regulations closed circuit cameras are not allowed in the areas where the vandalism occurred.

“Based on the fact that there was unrestricted, unsupervised access to the entire building by every employee who worked the evening and midnight shift between July 2 and July 3 and that there are no cameras to provide any footage of the areas [where] the items went missing, there is a very low probability of identifying any suspects or witnesses,” the Newington police complaint said.

According to the Courant article, “Several union members in Newington were so disbelieving of the accusations that they speculated that the managers staged the sabotage to make the union look bad.

On the picket line Wednesday, Tanya Beckford said that if any of her co-workers did do the things described in the police reports, “that would not be cool at all. In the end, it’s about the residents.””

Our frail elderly, once the backbone of this country, should always be treated with respect.  It is inconceivable that someone entrusted with the care of these, the most vulnerable in our society, would abuse this privilege.

For more information read the complete article at Courant.