Pittsfield Nursing Home Employees Fired After Abuse Charges
Published: August 30th, 2010 • No Comments
Three Massachusetts nursing home employees have been fired for allegedly committing nursing home abuse.
The Springside Nursing Home in Pittsfield has fired Jodi LeBrake and Sandra Yankey for allegedly abusing patients over the last month, and also fired Amy Simkewicz, who allegedly witnessed LeBrake abusing a patient but failed to report it. LeBrake, 44, was arraigned on Friday on felony assault charges for reportedly stuffing a sock into the mouth of a 72-year-old female patient in July. Yankey, 46, was fired on August 11 and plead guilty to charges that she pulled an 81-year-old patient’s hair.
Simkewicz told Pittsfield Police that she failed to report LeBrake’s abusive behavior because she feared retaliation.
Springside officials say that the Yankey and LeBrake cases are isolated incidents, according to a story in the Berkshire Eagle. But Springside, a 112-bed non-profit facility, has an overall rating of one star from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); the lowest possible rating the government agency can give. CMS inspectors rated the facility as much below average on health inspections and quality measures, and average on nursing home staffing.
