Ms.

To the Editor:
My father, Thomas La Grace, was a resident at Crest Haven Nursing Home since August 2010.
The first major problem that I experienced with Crest Haven occurred in November 2010, when an administrator forged one of my father’s checks to their own facility in the amount of $2959.76. The check was returned for insufficient funds due to the fact that all of his social security, pension, and Veteran’s stipend was already going directly to his care and therefore he had no funds. Crest Haven was, of course, aware of this.
This spring, my father was transported to ICU at Cape Regional due to respiratory distress. Two hours before he was due to be returned to Crest Haven, I received a telephone call from the director, Margaret Gannon, stating that my father would not be allowed to return to his room at Crest Haven, as he owed a balance from the previous August. As I did not wish for my father to be dropped off on the side of the road on Route 9, I spoke with the Department of Aging’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Bozzelli. She was compassionate and helpful, and instructed Ms. Gannon to allow him his bed.
My father’s discharge instructions from the hospital called for him to be on 15 liters of oxygen. When I called the nurse’s station that evening, they indicated his blood oxygen levels were too low. When I questioned this, they told me he was on 10 liters. It wasn’t until the next morning that a nurse provided him with the 15 liters that he needed to stay alive.
My father was allowed to keep $35.00 per month in his ‘Personal Needs Account’ during his time at Crest Haven. He left instructions that this savings to be turned over to me for his final expenses. (Also, I had Durable Power of Attorney, so it should have been surrendered to me at any time that I requested it). I arrived at Crest Haven on June 24th. Prior to my arrival, I requested these funds. They refused to give them to me. I again requested them on the evening of the 24th at the facility. I requested them again on the morning of June 25th. They refused. My father died in the afternoon of June 25th. He died distraught with worry due to his financial concerns for his burial.
At his death, of course, my Power of Attorney became void. I am a full-time graduate student and had no funds for a burial. My father was to be cremated, with his remains to be buried at the Cape May Veteran’s Cemetery. While a portion of the expenses were covered by Medicaid, there was a balance remaining that I had no way of paying. ( Of course, this would not have been the case had Crest Haven released his personal funds, as they were legally required to do).
My father was a WWII Marine Corp. veteran, and thankfully, the Marine Corp. League Dramis Detachment paid the balance so that he could have a proper burial. I can never find adequate words to express my gratitude to them. I have never encountered a more honorable and compassionate group of men. Semper Fi.
I spent the next week going to Senator Van Drew, Congressman Lobiondo, and many other agencies. I had a meeting with County Administrator Stephen O’Connor. No one that I spoke with appears to care about either the abuse and neglect at Crest Haven nor the fact that a faithful veteran was nearly unable to be buried due to Crest Haven’s actions.
I have explained to all concerned that although my father is now dead and buried, I will never cease in my efforts to correct the atrocities that occur at Crest Haven. These include abuse, neglect, theft, and the insane rantings of Margaret Gannon that were truly the most evil words that I have ever heard spoken. Clearly, my father was not the only resident to be victimized.
It is nothing less than despicable that the elderly are treated this way. That a man that served his country as part of the ‘Greatest Generation’ died this way is more than simply despicable.
Christine La Grace