Last week, I told you that Gracedale nurse Octavia Lasha Robinson, age 42, (an LPN employed by an outside agency) was arrested by Upper Nazareth Tp police and charged with abuse of a care-dependent person (i.e. resident) by striking, shoving, kicking and threatening this person. She was also charged with simple assault and harassment. According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Officer Zach Dugan, he was dispatched at approximately 3:22 am. It is unclear whether the "caller" is a resident or a Gracedale staffer. He was told that the defendant had been in the victim's room for two hours and refused to leave. When he entered, he personally witnessed the defendant shoving her fingers in the victim's mouth, saying the demons needed to come out. He also saw blood on the victim's chest and bedding. He placed Robinson in custody and took her to Lehigh Valley Hospital for an involuntary emergency health evaluation. She obviously was committed, which is why the case was marked inactive. It's active now, but she won't be shoving her fingers into any resident's mouth anytime soon. She's in the county jail.
Robinson was preliminarily arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Alicia Zito on July 3, and cash bail was set at $25,000. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 18, 3 pm, before Magisterial District Judge John Capobianco.
On Wednesday evening, Northampton County Council conducted its usual biweekly meeting. At that time, Council could be expected to ask a lot of questions about concerns raised by you in connection with this story. They probably did, too. But it was in an executive session.
Exec. Lamont McClure asked Council for an executive session to discuss personnel matters and possible litigation, which is permitted under the Sunshine Act.
There are numerous concerns about what this nurse was doing alone in a resident's room for two hours without making her supervisors suspicious. Why did the 911 calls come from a resident and not staff? And when 911 followed up with Gracedale supervisors, did they go to the room to see what was going on? As one of you observed, "This LPN refused to leave a resident’s room for two hours while possibly two nurse aides were on the unit who then possibly reported nothing to a house supervisor? That’s where it becomes fuzzy. Where were the unit rounds by the nursing supervisor assigned to the now reported Tower 7? Someone other than the other resident in that room had to have known what was going on and he, she or they did nothing about it (or did they report and nothing was done at the supervisory level?) My heart breaks for this resident and for those staff members at this facility who abhor this type of abuse."
These are personnel issues. If supervisors are found to have been negligent, I am sure action will be taken.
Also, I think you all realize that what this LPN is accused of doing opens up the county to a lawsuit by the resident.
There is potential litigation here.
I doubt we'll know the full story anytime soon, if ever. What I do know is that the county really needs to look at the long term viability of nursing homes. The federal government wants people to age in place, not in some sterile environment that packs them four to a room.
The county owns lots of land at the Gracedale campus. One Council member (I will not name this person) has suggested we at least study the construction of senior homes or apartments that will give residents dignity and independence while taking advantage of home health care. That seems to be a better way to fulfill our moral obligation than hiring outside agency nurses and being dependent on intergovernmental transfers, which will eventually go the way of the do do.
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