Nursing home dilemma

Randy Griffith rgriffith@tribdem.com

— A relationship that developed between two nursing home residents has ignited a brouhaha involving police, two families, and state and federal enforcement agencies.

Gary Calhoun of Jacoby Street said his father developed an “infatuation” with a woman after entering LaurelWood Care Center in Upper Yoder Township in the fall.

John Calhoun, 73, was recovering from a broken hip.

The two would sit together, holding hands, and were seen kissing, the younger Calhoun said.

“I was not opposed to it, but the lady’s family did not want her to be with him,” Gary Calhoun said.

John Calhoun is being treated for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, his son said, adding that the woman also apparently has dementia symptoms.

It is not uncommon for Alzheimer’s patients to display inappropriate behavior, said Tiffani Chambers, Pennsylvania office family services coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Association.

The progressive disease affects different areas of the brain, reducing blood supply and causing the grey matter to shrink and atrophy.

“It depends on what area of the brain the disease is affecting,” Chambers said. “It can cause patients to act on their inhibitions.”

LaurelWood caregivers agreed to keep the two residents apart and developed a care plan in February to prevent more interaction.

The two were seen together again in June, and John Calhoun’s doctor increased the dosage on a behavioral-health medication. But LaurelWood also gave the Calhouns a 30-day discharge notice.

It was the first time Gary Calhoun knew anything about the situation being seen as a problem.

“Nobody shared that information with me,” Gary Calhoun said.

LaurelWood’s social worker asked him to come to the

100 Woodmont Road nursing home for what he was told was a care plan meeting. When he got there he was directed to an office with administrator James Neely and other high-level staff members.

“That is when I became aware there was a problem with the relationship at the nursing home,” Gary Calhoun said.

Neely handed him the discharge notice at that meeting.

Gary Calhoun brought the notice to the state Health Department, which conducted an investigation and ruled against LaurelWood.

“The facility initiated a plan of care for this in February 2010, and the record indicated that the plan was effective,” the Health Department wrote to Gary Calhoun.

“There was no documented evidence that the facility was not able to meet your father’s needs; therefore, there was no justification for providing you with a

30-day discharge notice,” the letter continued. “This finding was included in the written report that was sent to the facility, and the facility was required to respond with a plan to correct this problem.”

Within days of the home’s notification, Gary Calhoun said, his father was taken into an office where he was questioned by Upper Yoder Township police Chief Walter Howe.

“He threatened my father to end the relationship or else he would go somewhere he did not want to go,” Gary Calhoun wrote to The Tribune-Democrat.

Howe denies threatening the elder Calhoun.

“We got a call about sexual harassment,” Howe said.

“Rather than get into the criminal thing, we met with the guy and let it go at that.

“At no time did anybody threaten anybody. He was just told to leave the lady alone.”

The situation had gotten worse, Howe noted.

“It went from hugging and kissing to where he wanted to crawl in bed with her,” Howe said. “They can’t have that going on.”

But calling the police was not the right solution, the Health Department investigator said, responding to Gary Calhoun’s second complaint.

“The investigation found that a police office (sic) did visit your father about his behavior,” the Health Department letter to Gary Calhoun reads. “However, there was no documented evidence that this was an appropriate intervention for a resident with some confusion.”

Again, LaurelWood was cited and ordered to correct the problem.

“I never imagined he would experience anything like he has experienced while he was in a nursing home,” Gary Calhoun said. “There is a lot of anxiety, especially having the cop coming there and talking to him like he did. He is still not over it. He’s still convinced he’s going to be taken out of there in handcuffs.”

Neely would not discuss the complaints, citing privacy rights of “the other person involved.”

“The whole thing is ridiculous,” Neely said. “That is all I can say.”

Although John Calhoun lived in an apartment with help from in-home services by SeniorLIFE Johnstown before his injury in the fall, his doctor and family believe he can no longer live alone. Gary Calhoun has been looking for an assisted living facility to relocate his father, but the local personal care homes seem to be filled. With Conemaugh Health System’s announced October closing of Good Samaritan Care Center, Gary Calhoun said, there aren’t any other nursing home beds, either. 

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