Word: alterra
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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...walls, in Dolores' hair, on her face, on her toothbrush. Then Dolores began to fuss incessantly with her feet. The Levangs thought they had arranged, through the center, for an outside service called Happy Feet to provide pedicures. But Happy Feet never received the contract. (The center's operator, Alterra, based in Milwaukee, Wis., insists that its manager did fax it in.) For eight months no one cut Dolores' nails, which grew so long that they curled over the tops of her toes and began to dig into the skin underneath...
...summer of 1998, Alterra was opening a facility every three days, quickly becoming the largest U.S. assisted-living provider. The memory-care center in Eagan, a fast-growing suburb of St. Paul, Minn., opened that August; in 10 months it filled its 52 beds. Glossy brochures promised "peace of mind, for you and your loved one." Families said they were told there would be a 1-to-7 ratio of staff to residents. But the primary caregivers, who were often paid less than $9 an hour, didn't just have their seven or so residents to care for; they also...
...issues.) An officer was sent to the facility, where an aide who spoke almost no English answered the door. She said she was a cook and had not been taught how to use the phone. The officer found just two other staff members, neither of whom spoke English well. Alterra maintains that eight resident assistants were on duty that evening...
That incident, along with complaints by Levang and other residents' families, prompted Minnesota attorney general Mike Hatch to sue Alterra for consumer fraud. The suit was settled, with Alterra agreeing to pay for an outside monitor. The center hired more staff, including a housekeeper, and modified its brochure, replacing the phrase "professionally trained" staff with "trained" staff. But for many of its other Minnesota facilities, Alterra insists having staff provide "holistic" care is effective...
...could have done a better job," says Alterra president Steven Vick about what happened at the Eagan center. He says such problems are rare. "These events are disappointing, but we work every single day to correct them." Karen Wayne, president of the Assisted Living Federation of America, one of the industry's main trade groups, says problems such as those at the Eagan center have been exaggerated. "When you look at the number of people we serve," she says, "these are isolated accidents and tragic events...