The administrator of Specialty LifeCare Service, an assisted living facility in Kernville, was charged Tuesday with stealing $50,600 from a 91-year-old resident’s bank account.

Debra Zilch, 42, of the 900 block of Belmont Street, voluntarily appeared for arraignment before District Judge Michael Musulin on charges of theft, receiving stolen property and forgery.

She was released on $25,000 recognizance bond. A preliminary hearing will be held Sept. 30.

Zilch allegedly stole a checkbook from the resident’s room and began writing checks to herself, a Cambria County detective, alleged in an affidavit.

Detective Kevin Price charged that Zilch wrote 20 checks between May 21 and Aug. 6 in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.

Zilch, who is part-owner of the facility at 429 Napoleon St., said she had taken a voluntary leave from her duties.

“I’ve never done anything like this before. I will repay the money. I am not a mean person,” she said in a telephone interview.

She did not discuss a motive for taking the money. She said that she is hiring a Johnstown attorney to represent her in the case.

Zilch allegedly admitted going into the resident’s room and taking what the man described as an old checkbook from a drawer. The resident told Price and Jennifer Anderson, an investigator from the Area Agency on Aging, that he had given no one, including Zilch, permission to write checks or take money from his account.

The man revealed that she had talked with him a few days before he was interviewed by the investigators and admitted she took his money.

At that time, she signed a note that was notarized by another woman, agreeing to pay him back at the rate of $2,000 a month.

“I have apologized and explained my situation. (The resident) graciously forgave me for my wrongdoing,” Zilch said in the signed note.

The theft came to light after another resident reported to the aging agency in early September that someone had stolen a large amount of money from a resident’s checking account, Price said.

It was learned during the investigation that First National Bank – where the man had his money – had notified the resident that his checking account had been overdrawn.

Price credited the agency investigator and the bank with bringing the alleged theft to the attention of the district attorney’s office.

Sunrise Senior Living, one of the largest providers of senior living services
with more than 440 communities worldwide, announced today that it is bringing
an innovative independent senior living community to Colorado’s Front Range.
The Stratford at FlatIrons leverages Sunrise’s nearly three decades of serving
seniors by combining this expertise with a distinguishing approach to senior
living that will offer residents and their families the type of active,
fulfilling lifestyle they have come to expect.  While Sunrise currently
operates 10 assisted living communities in the state, this is the first
independent living community that will also offer assisted living and a full
range of healthcare services.

The Stratford, to be located at 400 Summit Blvd., in the popular FlatIrons
area, is a full-service, amenity-rich senior living community.  Through its
broad offering of services and amenities, coupled with on-site assisted
living, memory care programs, rehabilitation and in-home health care
coordination, The Stratford will be well positioned to cater to seniors with
varying needs.

With about 130 employees, The Stratford will feature a Southwestern motif
and mountain-like design.  The community is set to debut in May 2009 and
recently opened its sales gallery at 549 FlatIron Blvd., Unit B in Broomfield,
80021, (303) 466-2422.  At the sales gallery, visitors can view floor plans
and learn more about the broad range of features and amenities that can be
found at The Stratford, including:

– Concierge services to assist residents with requests such as dining and
entertainment reservations, transportation arrangements, appointment
reminders, dog walking, personal errands and much more

– Maintenance and housekeeping services

– State-of-art fitness center and personal training as well as in-home
exercise programming

– Full-service spa and salon
– A 60-seat theatre for movies and theatrical performances
– Art Studio
– Casual and formal dining venues including a bistro bar
– In-room food service
– Private dining rooms and catering for parties and events
– Extensive library
– Club and game room
– Business Center and wireless internet access areas
– In-home care coordination and support services
– Geriatric case management
– Outpatient rehabilitation clinic

 

In addition to on-site assisted living, memory care and in-home health
care coordination, The Stratford will also offer rehabilitation services;
comprehensive health and wellness programs, which include screenings, support
groups and wellness lectures; 24-hour voice-to-voice emergency response
systems; and 24-hour security monitoring.

“The Stratford at FlatIrons is an exciting, new community for Sunrise
whereby we are integrating our long-standing experience as a pioneer in senior
living with a full menu of exceptional amenities, personalized services and a
host of life-enriching options for residents — all of which will be
seamlessly offered under one roof.  We believe The Stratford is a community
that seniors and their families will find exciting, appealing and comfortable.
The Stratford is distinguishing itself in the marketplace based on its ability
to cater to independent seniors who take comfort in knowing that they have the
opportunity to live life on their own terms at this full-service, all-
encompassing community,” explained Jennifer Teague, executive director for The
Stratford.

Luveda Fern Kessler fell and cut her leg as she got out of bed at her Laguna Hills assisted living apartment.The 83-year-old woman did as she had been told to do: Press a personal emergency response call button, according to a recent lawsuit. Bleeding from the two-inch gash she waited for help. Twenty-four minutes later, at 1:57 a.m., an unidentified staffer at Villa Valencia Health Care Center called 911, the filing says.

“Is there a nurse with the patient?” the dispatcher asks the staffer.

“No, there’s not a nurse here right now,” the staffer replied.

“OK, are you able to control the bleeding with some pressure?” the dispatcher later asks.

The staffer replies: “I’m trying to find it right now … the bleeding, where it’s coming from.”

Paramedics arrived at 2:10 a.m. Kessler lay on her stomach, nonresponsive. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Villa Valencia did not report the Aug. 23, 2007, incident to the state. Officials only became aware of the case after being contacted by The Orange County Register for this article.

Kessler’s death has led to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court last month against Villa Valencia and its owner, Sunrise Senior Living Inc. The 911 tape will be used as evidence in the trial, according to Richard Cohn, who represents Kessler’s surviving relatives.

“They let my mom bleed to death,” said Kessler’s daughter, Joanne. “I thought that was the best place for her. … Her death was completely preventable.”

Sara Krueger, a spokeswoman for Sunrise Senior Living, said she could not comment on Kessler’s demise because of the pending litigation. “Sunrise’s first priority is the health and safety of our residents and we take all allegations very seriously,” she said.

She added that the company does train staffers on when to call 911, and how to assist residents while paramedics are en route. She declined to give more specifics on training.

The Virginia-based company – which runs 445 senior centers internationally – has garnered criticism in two other lawsuits this year over care of residents at Villa Valencia’s adjacent nursing home unit.

Alot of people contact me qith questions regarding senior living costs, more specifically assisted living costs.Here’s a partial list of average monthly assisted living costs around the country according to the MetLife study:

Statewide, AK - $3,757	Des Moines, IA $2,139
Birmingham, AL $2,441	Boise, ID $2,317
Little Rock, AR $2,011	Peoria, IL $2,008
Tucson, AZ $2,057	Fort Wayne, IN $2,638
San Diego, CA $2,103	Wichita, KS $2,347
San Francisco, CA $2,630	Louisville, KY $2,438
Denver, CO $2,056	New Orleans, LA $2,418
Stamford, CT $4,327	Boston, MA $3,424
Washington, DC $3,920	Silver Spring, MD $3,718
Wilmington, DE $3,782	Billings, MT $2,339
Orlando, FL $2,000	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX $2,361
Atlanta, GA $2,535	Milwaukee, WI $2,798
Honolulu, HI $3,112

Long-term care costs have increased 5 to 13 percent in the past two years, according to the recently released 2008 Long-Term Care Cost of Care research report from Prudential Financial. But regardless of across-the-board cost upticks, the average daily cost for assisted living is still less than half the average daily cost for a private room in a nursing home, which helps fuel support for allowing seniors to age in place once they move into assisted living communities.

The Prudential study found that the average daily cost for assisted living is about $100, or $3,241 per month. The average daily cost for a nursing home private room is $217, or $79,205 annually. The study also reports that costs can vary significantly by geographic region.  The least expensive areas include Oklahoma City and St. Louis.

Baby boomers have had a huge impact on society over the years. Now a University of Florida study shows that generation’s about to dramatically change long-term care for the elderly forever. Researchers looked at trends expected in nursing home and assisted-living over the next few decades. Baby boomers will shape those years and expert Stephen Golant says care providers will have to adapt.

Golant: “The future assisted living providers, they’re going to have to improve their product and provide a quality of not only care, but also a quality of living environment that’s able to attract that more educated, sophisticated older boomer who’s going to need long term care in the future.”

Technology could make the transition easier for loved ones with monitoring and surveillance systems that allow grown children to track their parents’ care.

Golant: “The boomer population coming up the pipeline is much more sophisticated, has been living with this new technology. They’re more accustomed to it, more accepting of it.”

And experts project that seven out of ten of boomers will likely need long-term care at some point after they reach the age of 65.

Source:University of florida.com

Companies that offer Medicare health insurance and prescription drug coverage can no longer offer free meals during pitches or make unsolicited sales calls, the U.S. government said on Monday.

The insurers also must modify commissions to stop salespeople from switching patients to a new plan each year to earn the highest possible fee, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said.

The changes are meant to “protect Medicare beneficiaries from deceptive or high-pressure marketing tactics by insurance companies and their agents,” Acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems told reporters during a conference call.

The new rules also prohibit unsolicited door-to-door marketing and pitches in doctors office waiting rooms or other places where health-care is delivered.

Companies that violate the new rules could face penalties of up to $25,000 for each person that was harmed or might have been harmed by the practices, Medicare officials said.

Source:reuters.com

The average skilled nursing occupancy rate held steady, while rates for assisted living and independent living fell noticeably. That is according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry’s Market Area Profiles (NIC MAP) statistics released Thursday. Skilled nursing occupancy held at 90.1% for the second quarter of 2008, compared with 90.7% for the first quarter of 2007.

Rates for assisted living and independent living fell noticeably in 2007.The assisted living occupancy rate slid from a peak of 91.5% in the first quarter of 2007 to 89.8% in the second quarter of 2008, continuing a consistent downward path, according to MAP officials at the annual meeting of NIC in Chicago.

Independent living’s occupancy rate also decreased from a high of 93.8% in the first quarter of last year to 91.4% in the second quarter of 2008, a sign that supply had grown faster than demand. A crowd of 1,600 attended the 18th annual NIC conference, which was held at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

It was recently annoced that The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one of the nation’s largest healthcare foundations, plans to award $2.3 million in grants for research to improve the quality of nursing care in America. Grants of up to $300,000 will be given to eight research projects as part of the foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, a program designed to produce and collect information on how nurses contribute to the quality of care patients receive.

The foundation, which recently made the announcement, hopes to analyze how nurses contribute to high quality patient care among multiple providers and across many care settings, including long-term care.

Nurses comprise more than half of the nation’s caregivers, but little research exists showing the connection between their efforts and improved quality of care for patients, according to the foundation This round of grants, which will be rolled out over the next two years, is the third stage and final stage of the initiative, which his so far given $19 million for nursing research.

More information is available at www.rwjf.org.