Assualt in seniors' facility results in death of resident

[coffeeFreak]

Polson Special is an amazing place with exceptional staff. Regardless, it seemed it was only a matter of time before a tragedy such as this was going to happen, because, IMO people with dementia compounded by brain injury and/or psychiatric issues should have their own rooms. That poor family whose father died at the hands of another resident, and I can't help but wonder how the 95yr old offender is making do in a jail cell if he really isn't cognitively able to be held accountable. Such a tragedy for all involved.

Senior crime at care facility
by The Canadian Press - Story: 96778
Aug 19, 2013 / 2:21 pm

UPDATED 2:20 p.m.

Interior Health Communications Officer, Lannea Parfitt, has confirmed that an incident occurred at Polson Special Care in Vernon last night and that RCMP were immediately called.

"We have been in contact with both families of the residents involved in this tragic event and our heart goes out to them," said Parfitt.

Parfitt says that the safety of residents is Interior Health's first priority at all residential care facilities.

"We are taking this incident very seriously and cooperating fully with police. As this is now an RCMP investigation, we will not be able to release any specific details related to the incident in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation," she said.

Interior Health will also be conducting an internal investigation.

Polson Special Care is a 26 bed secured dementia unit that provides care for people whose dementia is complicated by behavioural or psychiatric issues.

Original Story 12:02 p.m.

A 95-year-old man is in custody as homicide investigators attempt to figure out what killed an 85-year-old man at a care facility in B.C.'s Interior.

The RCMP's Gord Molendyk says police received a report of an assault at the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Residential Care Facility at about 11 p.m. on Sunday.

Molendyk says an 85-year-old man died of his injuries.

The victim's 95-year-old roommate was taken into custody as police investigate what happened.

The RCMP say they are working with the Interior Health Authority.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-96778-2-.htm#96778

[Bsuds]

Very disturbing.

[Carmencat]

Coffeefreak, I totally agree with you and am actually shocked that dementia patients, let alone ones with psychiatric issues, don't have their own rooms. My hubbys ex mother in law was in two different facilities in Kelowna after she developed dementia and she had her own room in both facilities. I can't remember with the first, but the second place also had rooms that locked on the outside when the resident was inside, to prevent another resident from entering.

There is no way that at 11pm staff can be monitoring rooms - this was just a situation waiting to happen. That poor man that died, and his family. I hope his death is not in vain and changes are made to make sure these patients are protected, which includes having their own rooms!

[Silverstarqueen]

I 100% agree that elderly patients should have their own rooms . Especially if they suffer from dementia, but many other elderly are on medications such as for sleep or just to "keep them calm" which can interfere with their ability to realize what they are doing, or may make them irritable, can even cause a sort of " sleep walking" . Not to mention just being elderly in a facility, even if it's a very good one, can be stressful if you are also dealing with a "roomy". It's a recipe for disaster. I don't know about Polson, but at Cottonwoods in Kelowna they can have the bed rigged so that the staff are alerted the instant a patient gets out of bed. If you have to have two people in the same room, that could help, but still requires an available staff member. It seems a single room arrangement would be a better solution.
I had a family member in care for a time who had never been aggressive, but once they had him on whatever drugs they thought were appropriate to keep him calm, the staff said he wasn't sleeping, was aggressive, and unmanageable,and couldn't handle his own toiletting, so was left tied into a wet or soiled bed, didn't recognize family members even when up and about. Once at home, and off the drugs, he was back to his completely non-aggressive self, and slept just fine, and handled his own toiletting, and certainly knew his family members. Since some dementia or very elderly patients just don't have that option of returning home, there has to be a safe place for them to stay in their later years.

[Xia33]

What a terrible thing to have happen, especially if it could have been prevented. A family has lost a father, grandfather and maybe a great grandfather....and a 95 year old man with Alzheimer's is in custody charged with murder. I realize that this elderly man did something horrible but, in the same breath, to place a 95 year old Alzheimer's patient in jail? Is ther not some other way to deal with this? He likely doesn't even know what he did.

[Silverstarqueen]

The 95 year old has been sent to Kamloops for a psychiatric evaluation, the only way to clear him of murder charges seems to be if they can show not responsible by mental incompetence (or whatever they call it). Maybe now he'll get his own room.

[Merry]

I must admit to being a little mystified about why a person with dementia would be charged with murder. Surely, if you have dementia you are not legally responsible for what you do? This incident is a tragedy for both the families of both the victim AND the perpetrator. And I agree with those who say it is a situation bound to be repeated if we continue to place dementia patients in the same room as other patients.

I assume the room sharing is a cost saving measure, but what is the cost of laying charges against this man through the legal system?

When the Government makes policy decisions, far too much time is spent only looking at immediate costs, without enough thought being given to the bigger picture and the potential overall costs involved. But that applies to ALL Government policy, not just policy regarding the funding of care homes. Shortsightedness can prove to be VERY expensive in the long run.

[Silverstarqueen]

We don't know what came out of the police interviews, but if he was aware of what he did, and someone died, not accidentally, then the police don't have much choice about laying charges, it has to go through the legal system. Many people have dementia, you can't just leave it up to the police's discretion for such a serious charge (as opposed to a speeding ticket) when there is loss of life. A judge or jury can decide he was not mentally competent or responsible,or not, depending partly on the psychiatric report.

[Hassel99]

I heard on the radio that the charge was laid so they could keep him in custody. They need to lay a charge in 24 hours or release him. IF they release him, where would he go ? They also said he was now being transferred to Kamloops for evaluation. The gentlemen on the radio (sorry i did not catch where he was from) said that he thought the murder charge would be dropped after an evaluation as it is very likely he will not be criminally culpable due to mental illness.