Elderly Patients Need Stronger Advocates

Even worse than learning that a former employee from a nursing home in Bristol, Va., was charged with aggravated sexual assault of patients is learning that former coworkers suspected him and filed complaints, yet the man stayed on the job.

James Wright, 35, had worked at National Healthcare for about seven years before leaving in 2007, after a second complaint had been made about him. It is still unclear if Wright left on his own or was asked to go.

But he arrived at a new job – at Grand Court Bristol, another local nursing home – with a passing reference from NHC.

Then last week, he was arrested, indicted on four counts of sexual assault and the Virginia Board of Nursing suspended his nursing aide license.

A disturbing picture of inaction emerged when former coworkers began talking to this newspaper and our television partner, News Channel 11 Connects.

Several said they believed Wright was abusing patients and had reported the abuse to supervisors, but no action was taken.

Others claimed they were afraid to go over their supervisors’ heads to report to alleged abuse, after seeing Wright remain on the job.

Wright’s coworkers don’t know what came of their complaints because the process is secret. That is designed to protect employees from false claims. No one wants personnel discussions with their boss laid bare with their coworkers, and in fact, laws prevent such discussions.

But some former coworkers believe their claims were not adequately investigated or were not taken seriously. At least one woman quit in disgust after making allegations against Wright, but seeing no action taken against him. That woman, Patricia Davenport, is now a witness for the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, which investigates crimes, and the Virginia Department of Health Professions, which regulates medical licenses.

Fear can motivate us to action or leave us cowering. The culture of fear several employees described at NHC apparently did the latter. Wright’s former coworkers said they were afraid to step outside the chain of command at NHC and make sure their allegations were getting to top administrators. They admit being focused on preserving their own jobs and being fearful of retaliation by supervisors.

That seems such a weak argument now, when one considers the elderly residents those employees are supposed to care for and protect. It is the patients who clearly are most vulnerable and need the most protection. Whenever there are allegations of physical or sexual abuse, particularly with vulnerable populations such as nursing home residents, immediate intervention is necessary.

Despite the company’s insistence it acted promptly, it doesn’t look that way from the outside. From where the rest of the world can see, NHC dawdled in addressing the repeated concerns raised about Wright, or simply did not take them seriously.

Ultimately, it was an anonymous complaint – and a year’s worth of work by Bristol attorneys Parke Morris and Michael Large, who hired a private investigator – that led to Wright’s indictment and the suspension of his license.

If anyone at NHC feared making complaints at work, an anonymous complaint to the police is an obvious solution. The police would be brought in to any alleged sexual assault, so why not make a complaint to them?

And regardless of economic trials, who wants to work in a place where they believe the chain of command is more important than patient care or basic safety?

“I thought I needed a job, but I was wrong. I was wrong,” one of Wright’s former coworkers said.

People of good conscience cannot blame a failed process that leads to elderly people being harmed.

Wright will be given an opportunity to defend himself before the medical board and a court of law.

But who was focused on defending those elderly residents who need the protection most?