PAULA SCOBEY-2nd Public Administrator

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
    that there was no justice.  Isaiah 59:14-15

letter-from-hatley-to-sweeney-nov-2016

This letter was sent in response to the latest news report dated Nov. 22, 2016.  Considering the very act of guardianship opens up a person’s private life to public hearings and record, it is difficult for a guardian/nursing home to then argue they are protecting a ward’s privacy by not allowing a daughter to take pictures or video.  It is my responsibility to protect my mother even though she has a guardian because I am her daughter and none of this should have been placed into the hands of an elected public administrator and stranger.  Especially considering my mother had an extensive GENERAL DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY that expressed her desires!!

I do find it interesting that this letter states that the guardian has “the obligation to file a complaint with the appropriate Department” yet Paula Scobey never filed a complaint when my mother fell in the nursing home on June 24, 2016 and it was not discovered until July 4, 2016 (11 days later) when she was admitted to the hospital for another infection that she had a broken hip.  So if Ms. Scobey has an obligation to file a complaint, then why didn’t she and why didn’t she file a second complaint when my mother was later hospitalized again for dehydration??  Is she doing her job as stated in this letter that “the guardian promotes and protects the care, comfort, safety, health and welfare of the ward”?  Instead, I contacted Carole Herman of FATE (Foundation Aiding the Elderly) and she filed two complaints on behalf of my mother. 

Now another question is what is the Department of Health and Senior Services doing to investigate these complaints??  Good question–apparently not very much.  According to their findings, the nursing home did nothing wrong letting my mother lay there for 11 days with a broken hip because according to Mike Hazel it might have happened in the ambulance on the way to the hospital or at the hospital instead of when she fell on June 24th in this facility.  Because also according to him she didn’t complain for 3 days, so I guess she did complain for the other 8 days.  Does this make any sense to anyone else?  Are we expected to believe that she didn’t break her hip during a fall in the nursing home, but rather on the ride to the hospital?   And how did DHSS investigate this complaint??  According to them, they spoke to the staff at the nursing home, spoke to the doctors at the hospital and went in and observed her care for a week and she was cared for while they watched over the staff.  Does anyone reading this work harder when the boss is watching??  Are you kidding me?  Does this actually sound like a thorough investigation to reasonable people? ?  Well, I am certainly confident that Ms. Scobey is doing a great job and the nursing home did a great job caring for her as well.  I guess it is my mother’s fault for falling and not the nursing home, caretakers or guardian who are responsible for her well-being.

Scobey’s Emails

Scobey Certified Letter

2016 07 22 Letter to Hatley

HIPAA

Click on the above to see a copy of the emails and letter, as well as, my attorney’s response, that Ms. Scobey began sending to me stating that I was violating HIPAA and right to privacy.  I take issue with these emails first and foremost because they are totally false (please see the I-Team Update Justice for Pauline on KFVS12 by Kathy Sweeney). 

I would also ask Ms. Scobey-if they are all over the internet, then why didn’t she take the time to look them up for herself before falsely accusing me of violating the law?  Of course, is it possibly that Ms. Scobey had difficulty looking it up because she could not spell it properly?  I can clearly see that she has some difficulty with spelling and grammar in her emails and certified letter.  At least by the third communication, Ms. Scobey was able to correctly spell HIPAA (which I have also included above for her and anyone else that has any questions about what it says). So for anyone that has been harassed by a guardian/nursing home or any other “authority,” please make sure to have a copy of this law and inform them that you CANNOT violate it!

I have asked the question of many of the people involved in this case and will ask again here.  Is this the best that Scott County and New Madrid County, Missouri have to offer?  I have trouble seeing how Ms. Scobey is more “qualified” than me to take care of my mother.  Apparently, her main qualification is that she was elected to do so.  Since Ms. Scobey told Kathy Sweeney that her reputation speaks for itself, I would have to agree.  Based on the reputation that I have witnessed, I would have to ask that if you have a family member in guardianship with Ms. Scobey are you “impressed” with her reputation?

I did not find out my mother had a broken hip until July 6, 2016 and immediately emailed Ms.Scobey to learn how she broke her hip.  Ms. Scobey informed me that she was not aware until her admittance to the hospital that my mother fell in the nursing home (Sikeston Convalescent Center) on June 24, 2016 and it was not discovered until July 4, 2016 that she had broken her hip (11 days later) when she was admitted for a UTI.  Do you have serious concerns about her ability to “oversee” her wards health and safety?  Do you also have concerns about the nursing home’s failure to notify the guardian about her fall?  I would further ask is Ms. Scobey more worried about right to privacy or about my mother’s  health, safety and well-being?  Or is she more concerned about her own privacy and the nursing home’s privacy?  If she thought she was doing such a wonderful job, why wouldn’t she be willing to interview with Kathy Sweeney?  Is that also why she did not file a complaint against the nursing home for allowing my mother to lay there for 11 days with a broken hip without receiving treatment?  Ms. Scobey also stated that she “had a meeting with the administrator and was satisfied.”  REALLY??!!  She was satisfied??!!  Would she be satisfied if her mother had been in a nursing home and in pain for 11 days with an untreated broken hip??  Yet, instead of filing a complaint against the nursing home, Ms. Scobey was busy the day after my mother was admitted to the hospital writing me the above certified letter harassing me about this very website!!  I have to wonder why this website is so upsetting to her.  Maybe we can all guess!

So now let’s review the nursing home administrator’s response to Kathy Sweeney regarding my mother’s broken hip.  He stated that my mother did not complain of pain for 3 days after her fall.  I would have to assume this administrator has had basic math, so I would ask him what about the other 8 days before my mother was admitted to the hospital?   If he is clearly stating that she didn’t complain of pain for 3 days, then he must be suggesting that she did complain of pain for the other 8 days.  And what did the nursing home do about her complaints for 8 days???  Let me guess–THEY IGNORED HER!!  Do you know what would have happened to me if I had allowed my mother to lay in my home for 11 days without treatment for a broken hip (which I NEVER would have done)?  I would be facing criminal charges.  So why aren’t they?   Oh yes, let me remind you of the nursing home administrator’s words to Kathy Sweeney.  He says no one knows how or when she fractured her hip, suggesting it could have happened on the way to or even at the hospital.  This man has the audacity to suggest that it wasn’t the fall at the nursing home that caused my mother to break her hip, but laying in the hospital must have caused it.  Do these people really believe we are all that stupid?  Let me say for the record-I was with my mother at the hospital and saw her screaming in pain every time a nurse had to touch, move or re-position her leg and the nursing home would like me to believe they had no idea she was hurting!!   They couldn’t even raise her head too far in the bed because it put pressure on her hip and they would have to lower it back down.  Yet, here is what the nursing home administrator said to Kathy Sweeney- he’s shared information about Ms. Williams’ hip fracture with state investigators responding to Carole Herman’s complaint and feels confident they did nothing wrong.  Thank goodness the nursing home administrator feels they did nothing wrong allowing my mother to suffer for 11 days with an untreated broken hip!  Is this another “qualified” professional??  And do I believe that there is going to be a REAL investigation by the Department of Health and Senior Services??  I guess we will have to wait and see.