GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- Toni Spencer-Beatty treasures every picture of her mother. She has saved every news article about her mother so generations of her family will know all she did for them and the community.
"She said, 'I never want anybody to feel bad about being poor. I want them to feel that they deserve respect,'" Spencer-Beatty recalled with a look of pride in her eyes.
Leona Spencer grew up the youngest of 11 children, raised by a single mother after her father died. She grew up with social workers coming in and out of the house, a memory that drove her to become a community activist in Grand Rapids. She dedicated her time, even in retirement, to helping disadvantaged kids and struggling families, earning several high-profile recognitions along the way.
"She never wanted a child to grow up and not have like she did," Spencer-Beatty explained.
In October 2013, Leona died at the Woods at Maple Creek, a home for the aged in Grand Rapids.
"My mother wanted us at her death, and we weren't there," Spencer-Beatty said.
Two days after her mother died, Spencer-Beatty says she received an anonymous letter that said her family needed to know the truth about her mother's death. The writer said that her mother complained of chest pains "hours before she died" and had "begged for someone to call her daughters because no one was listening to her."
The anonymous writer said Leona "may still be here today if the nurse would have taken her complaint seriously," but that the nurse "didn't care and didn't even check on her."
"She dedicated her life to helping poor, disadvantaged people and here she is and she can't even die with dignity and she can't even die with her family? You know, I don't even understand it," Spencer-Beatty said.
Leigh McLeod, the vice president of senior living for Lutheran Social Services, the organization that owns the Woods at Maple Creek, couldn't elaborate on the details of Leona's case, but she did sympathize with the family.
"All I can say to them is I'm very sorry for their loss, and anything we identified as being a challenge for us or an issue, we have corrected," McLeod said.
"I'm sure if you looked at any assisted living facility or any nursing home, you're going to see violations. I think from my perspective as the vice president of senior living, it's what you do about those violations that matter and how you're monitoring to ensure compliance," she continued.
State officials wouldn't talk about specific cases either. Target 8 requested all state documents related to Leona's death, discovering her doctor said her symptoms should have been reported "immediately" given her history of internal bleeding. While state investigators noted that it's not known if Leona's problems that night were related to her death, they did cite the home for not getting Leona appropriate care and not contacting her family.
>>PDF: Investigation into Woods at Maple Creek
Target 8 also looked through the home's corrective action plan. Under it, staff was retrained on when to call a resident's physician and family and what to do if they can't be reached.
DOCUMENTS OUTLINE INCIDENTS AT OTHER HOMES
Leona's story isn't the only death in recent years that led to violations at adult foster care homes or homes for the aged in West Michigan.
Target 8 found state records detailing an incident at another facility in which staff placed a woman known to lean forward in a wheelchair at the end of a hallway. When she started to fall, they couldn't reach her. She fell forward, hit her head and died.
In other cases, state investigators cited the homes because staff yelled at residents and in some cases hit them.
In one case, a woman complained of bleeding problems, but said the home manager told her she didn't want to call 911, so the resident took a bus to the hospital.
As recently as July, a resident stepped on a piece of glass in the basement of a facility. Two months later, an infection in her foot was so bad she had to have her toe removed.
"It's unfair to the people who are paying all this money for the loves of their lives to be cared for, and they're not, they're just not. It just makes me sick," Spencer-Beatty said, reacting to the state inspections.
The latest state audit of the agency that licenses homes for the aged and adult foster care homes in May noted Michigan doesn't assess fees, fines or penalties for licensing violations.
>>Online: The audit (PDF) and the agency's plan to comply (PDF)
Some other states do assess fees: Wisconsin has a $200 fee for follow up inspections. North Carolina will fine a home for significant violations or ones that aren't corrected.
But the agency that regulates homes in Michigan says it has no “immediate” plans to start issuing fees and fines to homes cited for violations.
“With that said, our new bureau is planning to do a comprehensive review of the various administrative rules to make sure they comport with today’s practice standards,” Larry Horvath, the director of the Bureau of Community and Health Systems, said.
Horvath went on to say that the ability to levy fines is set in code, not rules. Therefore, it’s an issue the state legislature would need to consider.
WHAT YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR AT A HOME
Reading the state inspections is a good start when checking out a home. But Leigh McLeod, the vice president of senior living for Lutheran Social Services, said not to stop there. She said to go to facilities and ask about violations. McLeod says a modern, clean facility doesn't always mean a clean record.
"If I'm thinking about how is this facility doing, I'm looking at the residents," McLeod said. "Are they well dressed, are they well groomed, are they smiling?"
You may also consider asking about the staff-to-resident ratio, and don't simply accept the answer. See for yourself by popping in after hours or on weekends to see how many staff members are actually working.
MAP OF KENT COUNTY HOMES AND VIOLATIONS
Target 8 has compiled a list of licensed adult foster care homes and homes for the aged in Kent County as of Nov. 2, 2015 and developed the interactive map below. Homes identified by the state as having at least one violation within the last year (as of Nov. 2, 2015) are marked with a red pin. Homes identified by a state database as having no violations within the last year are displayed in blue. Readers using the WOOD TV8 app can find the interactive map on woodtv.com’s mobile site.
