Report Reveals "Shocking" Details and "Disgraceful Conditions" at SC Assisted Living Facilities

The stories are horrifying:
-A resident being severely beaten with a two-by-four board to the point of vomiting blood.
-Residents not receiving medication for over a week.
-A resident who had not had a bath from June until November.

They're the findings of an investigation called "No Place To Call Home". South Carolina's non-profit watchdog group "Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc."released the results of their 14-month long study of unannounced visits to 150 residential care facilities in the state.

"Our report is called 'No Place To Call Home' because nobody would want to live in facility that is this bad," said Anna Maria Darwin.

Darwin is an attorney for the group that inspected the assisted living facilities that serve the poorest people.

"You can walk into these facilities and immediately smell strong odors, urine and other odors, you can go into kitchens and bathrooms and find that they have not been cleaned," Darwin said.

They sent their findings to several state agencies including the Department of Health and Environmental Control. They claim they didn't release the names of the facilities for fear of retaliation against residents. Instead,they recommended among several things:
-Revision of statutes and regulations that allow more enforcement options
-Better accessibility for the public to inspection reports
-The creation of an adult abuse registry of individuals who have substantiated allegations of abuse or neglect

News Channel 7 went to DHEC in Columbia to find out what they had to say about this report and what they could do to help.

"My goal is that we continually improve our processes no matter what they are at the time," said DHEC Deputy Commissioner for Health Regulation, Pam Dukes.

When asked why DHEC didn't have a better system to look at a facility online Dukes replied, "The issues raised in the report we agree with and we have begun an independent evaluation months ago to evaluate our processes and we have already begun making changes." See how facilities are reported here.
Dukes says one of those changes will allow the public to research a specific facility or do comparisons among facilities online. DHEC also plans to ask the legislature for more resources to inspect facilities that are poorly performing as often as needed instead of the minimum requirement of four times a year. And they want to change the inspection process itself to evaluate issues like training, administration of medications and residents hygiene.

Until those changes are made, Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities vows to keep a close eye on the thousands of people who have no one else to look out for them.

"It's our responsibility to ensure those homes are good places to live," Darwin said

To prevent bad care and abuse of your loved one the Foundation Aiding the Elderly says you should do the following:
-Request a complete facility profile from the state health department. Right now you have to complete a Freedom of Information Act request with DHEC. To do that click here.
-Be wary of overmedication and notice how many people seem to be in stupors or in bed
-Take complaints about mistreatment seriously.

If you have a concern about facility you should contact the State Law Enforcement Division at 866-200-6066