Kitsap Business and Economy

An administrator who was said to be responsible for many of the problems has left Park Vista Retirement & Assisted Living Community.

By Rachel Pritchett

rpritchett@kitsapsun.com

PORT ORCHARD

The state in June imposed tough conditions on a Port Orchard senior-care facility’s license after receiving complaints from residents about harsh treatment from a former administrator and other problems.

The departure of Tammy Logar as administrator of Park Vista Retirement & Assisted Living Community of Port Orchard led to the lifting of conditions dealing with her, but the home still must make improvements.

A state Department of Social and Health Services investigation concluded that Logar intimidated, coerced, and verbally and mentally abused nine residents or their legal representatives. The verbal abuse included yelling, swearing and ridiculing.  

Logar was not named in the investigation, but was identified as the administrator by a resident and by Gayle Helseth-Kenison, an ombudsman for the Kitsap County Division of Aging and Long-Term Care.

Logar was at Park Vista only a couple of months.

According to the investigation, a person who knew one of the residents was at the home when the fire alarm sounded. A staffer didn’t seem to know what to do and screamed for someone to turn off the alarm. The visitor later was surprised to discover the staffer was Logar.

A resident said Logar “treated me like I was stupid.”

Another resident said that when she took a copy of a document to Logar to discuss it, the administrator “tore it up, ripped it in half and threw it in the garbage.”

Yet another was said to be “scared and just shaking” before going into Logar’s office.

“Due to the administrator’s abusive behaviors, these nine residents felt intimidated, belittled, angry and fearful,” DSHS papers stated.

One of the conditions DSHS placed on the home on June 12 was that the administrator had to be directly supervised at all times.

The home’s management company was alerted at least three times but did not take appropriate action, according to the papers.

Complaints also centered on Park Vista staff not completing a required health assessment for a resident before changing the person’s status from able to handle personal medications and dressing to requiring assistance. That put the resident at risk for financial exploitation from increased fees for services, the papers stated.

One resident said services rendered without an assessment to evaluate physical and mental capabilities resulted in increased charges of $450 a month, and the patient’s representative was not notified at the time.

Other complaints involved difficulties residents and their representatives had in getting access to those assessments, also placing them at risk for getting charged too much.

One resident alleged, “They wanted to assist with everything, then charge for it.”

They also complained about not always being able to get itemizations of services and fees. Bills for phone and cable service varied from month to month, as did rent amounts. Bills had no explanation for “balance forward” for unknown services. 

A guardian for one resident said “charges keep changing.”

DSHS gave Park Vista and its parent time to correct deficiencies relating to assessments and residents’ rights, said Janice Jiles, a DSHS field manager.

Helseth-Kenison, the local ombudsman for the aging, was among the first to receive complaints from Park Vista residents. Some, she said, were about a lack of communication residents said they felt during the admissions process.

“Lots of costs were added on that they felt weren’t fully disclosed during the admissions process,” Helseth-Kenison said.

The financial frustrations might have pre-existed, but Logar’s arrival seemed to make them worse.

“She was pretty harsh; she was pretty verbally abusive,” Helseth-Kenison said.

Helseth-Kenison worked with the home’s staff to address the complaints, but in the end, she turned to the state for help.

Pam Gray of Bonaventure Senior Living, the Oregon-based parent of Park Vista, declined to say whether the company will appeal the findings.

Gray did say that the home reacted swiftly.

“It’s extremely important to us to always maintain a healthy and comfortable environment where residents are our top priority,” Gray stated.

Logar has been has been replaced by an interim administrator, Sunya Grantham. 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am by Rachel Pritchett and is filed under Uncatagorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.