Patricia Miele (Credit score: Marietta Police Division)
MARIETTA, Ga. – The disappearance, and subsequent loss of life, of 89-year-old Patricia Miele, is sparking a bigger dialogue on staffing points in senior care amenities.
What we all know:
Miele, a resident of Greenwood Place in Marietta, went lacking in early November.
The Georgia Division of Neighborhood Well being’s report signifies that the nursing dwelling workers didn’t examine on her for hours earlier than she wandered off.
After they found her absence the subsequent morning, they waited practically two hours to inform the police.
Her physique was later present in a close-by lake by a pair strolling by way of Kennesaw Memorial Park.
Lacking Marietta lady, 89, discovered useless in pond
A tragic discovery in Marietta Monday after an in depth multiday seek for a lacking aged lady. Police say a pair discovered the physique of 89-year-old Patricia Miele floating in a pond Monday morning.
What we do not know:
The state report doesn’t specify any sanctions that Greenwood Place may face resulting from Miele’s loss of life. Moreover, the nursing dwelling has not commented on the specifics of the case, citing confidentiality obligations.
What they’re saying:
Miele’s disappearance prompted a big response from Marietta police.
Melanie McNeil, Georgia’s Lengthy-Time period Care Ombudsman, says short-staffing is a typical drawback in senior care amenities throughout the state.
“That is what occurs when there’s not sufficient workers. Individuals wander away,” she stated. “It isn’t simply within the metro space. Different components of the state are experiencing the identical factor. Residents wandering off and the workers simply do not understand it.”
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She advises households to often go to their family members in care amenities to make sure their security and well-being.
The opposite facet:
In the meantime, Greenwood Place has said that any findings from the Division of Neighborhood Well being are “are taken very significantly and are addressed, acted upon swiftly and remedied to the satisfaction of the state.”
Nonetheless, they haven’t supplied particular particulars about Miele’s case.
What’s subsequent:
There may be concern over a pending change to state laws that will decrease obligatory minimal staffing ranges in nursing properties, which McNeil fears may exacerbate the problem. The state of affairs stays underneath evaluate, and additional developments are awaited.
The Supply: This text relies on a report from the Georgia Division of Neighborhood Well being and statements from Melanie McNeil, Georgia’s Lengthy-Time period Care Ombudsman, throughout an interview with FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Rob DiRienzo. Further data was supplied by a spokesperson from Greenwood Place.
