SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Springfield Township nursing home employee has been charged with assaulting a resident.
According to court documents, Burlington House Healthcare Center employee Julianna Lopez was arrested for physically assaulting a resident. The incident was caught on video.
WCPO 9 News has requested the incident report from Springfield Township to get more details about the alleged assault.
Ombudsman Linda Kerdolff advocates for seniors in Ohio. She said this isn't the first time her office has received complaints about Burlington House over the last few months.
“We’ve been out there three times in the past month looking at things about the physical environment,” she said. “You know, when you walk in the building you smell the smell of urine, feces, we've witnessed several bathrooms, feces on the walls.”
She noted that a recent law does help nursing home residents who have to deal with these kinds of situations.
“Residents, thanks to Esther’s law, which passed a couple of years ago, are allowed to have cameras in their rooms ... which is a great thing because it takes away some of the 'he said, she said' type of thing,” Kerdolff said.
Ronald Edwards’ uncle recently moved into Burlington House Healthcare Center. Edwards shared what he saw going on inside the facility.
"I have heard horror stories of nursing homes, but I’ve never witnessed it firsthand,” Edwards said. “The condition this nursing home is in is completely unacceptable."
When Edwards went to visit his uncle, he said it was clear his uncle had not been bathed for days.
"There were used adult diapers that had been defecated in, in my uncle's laundry hamper, in the nightstand drawers, on top of tables,” he said.
That's when Edwards said he found his uncle's toiletries — "toothpaste, soap, shampoo … none of it had been touched."
"We found his dentures wrapped in a piece of notebook paper in his nightstand drawer. He didn't have his hearing aids in," Edwards said.
Kerdolff said the Ohio Department of Health was at the facility Thursday investigating. The report of their findings will likely be released next week.
Over the past year, she said there have been 39 instances of abuse, neglect or exploitation in nursing homes in Southwest Ohio.
In many cases, seniors in nursing homes can't advocate for themselves.
So how can you prevent this from happening to your loved one?
"Really, there's no substitute except to go and visit and we recommend people go on weekends or in the evening when staffing might be lower," Kerdolff said.
WCPO reached out to the nursing home, but they would not comment on the case.
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