When Home Health Aides Become the Problem Instead of the Solution
Home health aides are supposed to be “your eyes and ears” when you can’t be close to your elderly family member. You seek out someone you believe to be qualified and, often, have to rely on agencies to provide candidates for you. Unfortunately, even when you ask all the right questions, New Jersey families are finding that agencies are hiring unqualified or unmotivated people.
When you welcome these people into your elderly loved one’s home, you have a right to expect that they will be able to provide the care you have been promised and for which you are paying. All too often, that’s just not the case. In fact, it’s getting more common for aides from agencies to be more of the problem than they are a solution for families who want to keep their older loved ones home.
One horrible example is being investigated now by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Office of Consumer Protection. It involves a West Orange, NJ-based healthcare services company that allegedly sent unskilled and uncertified workers into patients’ homes. The company, Precious Hands, LLC, was supposed to employ people with CHHA documentation — Certified Homemaker-Home Health Aides. However, the company allegedly falsified documentation about workers so it could keep its NJ license to operate as a healthcare service firm.
“Families contact us explaining that the home health aides hired by reputable agencies turned out to be lazy, dishonest or just didn’t keep the family informed about their mother’s or father’s condition,” said experienced elder abuse lawyer Barry Sugarman. “Simply put, the aides just didn’t do their jobs.”
When this happens, the ramifications of home health aide abuse can range from cuts and broken bones caused by slips and falls, to a condition worsening because medication wasn’t administered properly, to malnourishment or dehydration when the aide doesn’t provide meals and even bed sores that are the result of an aide failing to simply turn a patient on a regular basis as instructed.
Home health aides aren’t expected to be doctors or nurses. However, they are expected to be able to follow simple instructions and to keep your loved one safe and comfortable. When they are negligent, the results can be disastrous.
If you believe your loved one is the victim of abuse or negligence by a home health aide, contact Mr. Sugarman right away. He will fight to hold the negligent parties responsible for their actions and will work hard to win maximum compensation in your case. Call him today.
