A Bellingham assisted living facility has been fined $1,000 after the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services found the facility failed to properly investigate and report incidents of verbal and physical abuse of residents by a former caretaker.

Brookdale Fairhaven, which is located on Old Fairhaven Parkway, was notified by the Department of Social and Health Services May 10 that an investigation found the facility had violated state laws for reporting abuse and neglect and investigating incidents of verbal and/or physical abuse by staff, according to state documents obtained by The Bellingham Herald.

The reports of abuse by a former caretaker allegedly included entering residents’ private rooms without knocking, making rude and/or threatening comments to residents, staring at a resident seated on the toilet, intentionally blocking the path of a resident using a walker with his foot, threatening to kill a resident’s cat and hitting a resident in the head with a rolled-up paper.

The facility’s failure to investigate or report those incidents “resulted in some residents being afraid of the staff member and the staff member being rude and not respecting residents’ right to dignity,” the Department of Social and Health Services said in a letter to Brookdale Fairhaven. It also “resulted in four current and one former resident being at risk for continued abuse.”

The two violations each brought a $500 civil fine for Brookdale Fairhaven.

The facility is operated by Brookdale Senior Living, which has more than 675 senior living communities in 41 states, including 31 locations in Washington state, according to its website.

“The health and wellbeing of our residents and associates is our top priority at Brookdale Senior Living,” Brookdale Senior Living spokesperson Taylor Ellis told The Herald in an emailed statement.

“Recently, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services conducted an investigation at our Brookdale Fairhaven community related to reports of verbal and/or physical abuse by an associate. Brookdale takes all allegations of abuse seriously, and we do not tolerate situations that may cause harm to our residents.

“Brookdale Fairhaven is re-educating our associates on the proper response to allegations of abuse and interventions to help prevent incidents involving our associates or our residents.”

Abuse investigation

The Department of Social and Health Services completed a complaint investigation into Brookdale Fairhaven on May 10 after completing unannounced on-site complaint investigations Feb. 9 and March 23, according to records obtained by The Herald.

The investigation followed a series of complaints that centered around a former caretaker at the facility, the document states.

According to the statement of deficiencies, on-site interviews with residents revealed:

▪ One resident said the former caretaker was rude to residents and didn’t respect their privacy. The resident added that residents were afraid of the former caretaker, and though the resident notified the facility’s executive director and director of health and wellness of those concerns, the caretaker continued to work at the facility.

▪ Another resident reported that the former caretaker had put their foot out, blocking the resident’s walker when they were walking in the facility. The resident’s representative said that Brookdale Fairhaven management knew how the former caretaker treated some residents and overlooked the issue.

▪ Another resident reported that the former caretaker entered residents’ rooms without knocking and was rude. The resident reported personally having the former caretaker enter their room while they were using the toilet and then standing at the door to the bathroom watching her. The resident reported there was no attempt to respect her privacy and the former caretaker’s actions made her uncomfortable.

▪ During the interview with a resident, the former caretaker entered the resident’s room without knocking.

▪ A resident representative said that a resident reported the former caretaker had walked by the resident saying he was going to kill the resident’s cat. The resident representative reportedly told Brookdale Fairhaven about the allegation, but no action was taken.

▪ A person identified as a collateral contact reported personally witnessing the former caretaker acting inappropriately with residents on multiple occasions, including hitting a resident on the head with a rolled-up paper and pretending to trip residents with walkers. The collateral contact reported the incidents to the facility’s executive director and director of health and wellness, but no action was taken and the incidents were not reported to the Department of Social and Health Services.

▪ A review of an incident report made March 16 showed that a resident came out of the common living area to ask staff for help with another resident. The resident and the former caretaker got into a verbal altercation witnessed by others, in which the former caretaker told the resident to “get out of here.” The facility’s business office coordinator told the former caretaker not to speak that way to residents. The former caretaker responded that the resident was “up in my space.”

After the March 16 incident, the caretaker left Brookdale Fairhaven and did not return, according to documents, but the facility did not report the staff-resident altercation to the Department of Social and Health Services.

Failing to investigate, report

Under WAC 388-78A-2371, assisted living facilities must investigate and document investigative actions and findings for any alleged or suspected abuse, neglect or financial exploitation, determine the circumstances of the event, when necessary document appropriate changes to prevent future similar situations and protect residents during the course of the investigation.

The Department of Social and Health Services statement of deficiencies shows Brookdale Fairhaven failed to investigate the incidents of verbal and physical abuse by the former caretaker.

In a Feb. 9 interview with Brookdale Fairhaven’s director of health and wellness, the director stated “that there had been no incidents of staff to resident abuse or any issues with staff behavior,” according to documents. The director reported some concerns about the former caretaker exhibiting rude behavior and not respecting resident’s privacy, but the director said two of the residents who made complaints “gang up on staff.” The director added that one of the residents had “behavior issues” and the other didn’t like the former caretaker because “he wears his pants too tight.”

The director reportedly told investigators that the facility did not document any incidents regarding the former caretaker and that he continued to work with residents without supervision and no report was filed with the Department of Social and Health Services.

The director also told department interviewers that the former caretaker had tried to connect with the residents, but some had made him a target, documents state.

A review of the assisted living facility’s incident logs between Jan. 9 and Feb. 9 found no incidents involving the former caretaker and residents at the facility, according to the report.

“As a result of the on-site visit(s), the department found that you are not in compliance with the licensing laws and regulations as stated in the cited deficiencies in the enclosed report,” the Department of Social and Health Services said in the May 10 letter to Brookdale Fairhaven accompanying the statement of deficiencies.

The statement of deficiencies added that a collateral contact said Brookdale Fairhaven staff felt “powerless” because nothing was being done to protect the residents.

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