Two serious cases of elder abuse made headlines in the San Francisco Bay Area this past week. One involved the deliberate smothering of a patient by a caregiver in a South San Francisco nursing home, and the other involved financial elder abuse by a caregiver who stole money from patients. It is unfortunate that the very people who are charged with the care of elders are the same people who are abusing them. Elders are extremely vulnerable, and these incidences of abuse are not isolated occurrences. According to the Los Angeles Examiner, one out of 20 elders in California will be a victim of neglect or physical, financial, or psychological abuse this year.
Nursing Home Assistant Intentionally Smothers Patient
On March 22, Maximo Hong Fajardo Jr., a 37 year old certified nursing home assistant, intentionally smothered 87 year-old Barbara McIver with a pillow, in full view of other patients and staff. Ms. McIver was a patient at the Convalescent Center Mission Street in Daly City, south of San Francisco. Fajardo fled the care facility, carjacking a car and crashing it in his attempt to flee. He is currently held on $10 million bail.
Nursing Home Administrator Accused of Financial Elder Abuse
Across the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley, California, Concepcion "Connie" Pinco Giron, former assistant administrator of the Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, is accused of telling her supervisors that a patient at the home, Carnell Williams, was being transferred to another care facility. In fact, Giron moved Williams into her own home, and proceeded to cash Williams’ pension and social security checks. Giron is also accused of opening bank accounts at Citibank for five other patients and transferring money from those accounts into her own account. She wrote checks to herself from the patients’ accounts and used their ATM cards.
Giron has been charged with kidnapping to commit another crime, false imprisonment, elder abuse, and six counts of theft from elder or dependent adults by a caretaker. She is currently being held in lieu of $365,000 bail.
Thanks for reading my blog. If you have a question or comment, feel free to respond to this posting, but keep in mind your response will not be confidential. If you or a loved one has been the victim of abuse, negligence, or neglect by a nursing home, contact an attorney to find out your legal rights and options. You can also contact me to discuss your matter confidentially.
