Residents of a Michigan nursing home suffered repeated physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their fellow residents in 2006-07, a pattern of violence that nursing home management failed to stem or report, Michigan state officials alleged. Abuses uncovered at Tendercare Health Center-Birchwood, 2950 LaFrainer Road in Garfield Township, resulted in fines and prompted an ongoing criminal investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s office. Victims included both male and female residents at Birchwood, which in November was named to a federal government list of the nation’s most troubled nursing homes. Some men groped and grabbed women who couldn’t physically defend themselves. One man exposed his genitals; another touched women’s legs while he sat next to them playing bingo. The Henson Fuerst team of lawyers and staff remind blog viewers that nursing home abuses can occur by unattended and poorly supervised residents, as well as by person who do not live on the premises.
Click to read the entire story from The Traverse City Record-Eagle newspaper.
