moved into a state-certified assisted living facility in Sandy, Oregon, the beloved mother and grandmother鈥檚 lifeless, frozen body was found outside less than a half a mile away from her new bed.
Her death was a tragedy. And yet, another calamity was slowly unfolding for the remaining residents of Mt. Hood Senior Living.
After Hyun wandered away from the facility and died of hypothermia, nobody from the state鈥檚 licensing team immediately visited the facility. Finally, after 28 days, they went to inspect in light of Hyun鈥檚 death. When they did, a litany of concerns prompted them to immediately shutter the facility. They moved 13 of the remaining residents to other facilities ill-equipped to care for them late on a dark, rainy night.
Hyun鈥檚 death and the state鈥檚 poor treatment of the remaining vulnerable residents at Mt. Hood Senior Living has highlighted systemic failures in how the state cares for vulnerable adults. This week a legislative panel heard painful testimony from Hyun鈥檚 family and others who had loved ones at the Mt. Hood Senior Living facility.
The state鈥檚 long-term care ombudsman Fred Steele has called for an independent audit into the division at the state鈥檚 human services agency that oversees and regulates long-term care facilities. But Steele also has a more dramatic suggestion: He is calling on lawmakers to consider wholesale bureaucratic changes to prohibit the same agency from licensing and regulating how Oregon鈥檚 long-term care providers care for the state鈥檚 most vulnerable aging adults.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the consumer protection function of licensing and regulations that is being lost,鈥� Steele said.
Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, who chairs the Committee on Human Services, said there are broader questions in how to ensure state agencies are actually protecting the residents of the state, noting there have been similar issues arise in both kids and adults in foster care.
The way our state is structured, she said, the Department of Justice is essentially serving as a 鈥渓iability protection firm for state agencies rather than as advocates for the people of Oregon.鈥�
One of those residents moved in the dark of night in January from Mt. Hood Senior Living was Bonnie Everett. She was moved at 11 p.m. to a place that her niece said was not equipped to support a person with dementia, which Everett has. The family only had a few hours notice that Everett was being moved and they had a hard time getting information on how she was doing or where she was located. They contacted the personnel reportedly overseeing the resident鈥檚 move at the state鈥檚 Department of Human Service office and got an out-of-office message.
鈥淚 spent the entire weekend searching for her,鈥� Everett鈥檚 niece, Melissa Fisher testified to a panel of lawmakers this week. Fisher said the state moved the residents as if they were cattle, not humans.
鈥淭hey did not have a comprehensive, person-centered and dementia-centered plan created by the Oregon Department of Human Services,鈥� she said. 鈥�... It is as if no one who made this decision had any knowledge about the needs of those with dementia.鈥�
Leading up to Hyun鈥檚 death, ODHS licensing staff were informed that the facility was both regularly understaffed and also without an administrator. The interim administrator emailed state licensing officials telling them she didn鈥檛 feel qualified for the job.
鈥淚 do not believe I have the credentials, training, or education to fill in as an interim, as I have only been a bookkeeper/Business Office Manager with a High School Diploma; no college education or formal medical training or work experience,鈥� the interim leader wrote in November 2023.
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court. They urged state lawmakers to consider immediately reviewing state facilities to ensure they were properly secured and safe.
Copyright 2024 Oregon Public Broadcasting
