Mom who shot daughter had complained about care (Murder, suicide at Oakland nursing home)

[Kadie]

This is a follow up to this story...

Murder, suicide at Oakland nursing home - 64 yr old Woman Shot Disabled Daughter then Herself
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6545323


Mom who shot daughter had complained about care
Erin Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, September 19, 2009

In the six years that her daughter lived at Oakland Springs Health Care Center, Diana Harden had lodged at least two complaints against the facility, alleging that Yvette Harden was verbally abused by staff members and was not given proper care and equipment.

Oakland Springs had become a home of last resort for Yvette Harden, 43, who was paralyzed and suffered a serious brain injury in a car accident 15 years ago. She'd bounced from one nursing home to another, and lived with her mother for a while.

On Sunday night, Diana Harden, 64, went to Oakland Springs to see her daughter. She brought a gun, and shot and killed Yvette Harden and then killed herself. The day before, she'd sent a letter to a KGO-TV news reporter outlining the reasons for her actions. She stated allegations of abuse, which included charges that staff members had called her daughter a "fat pig" and subjected her to cold showers where she was washed "like a car."

Neighbors at the Livermore mobile home park where Harden lived said that while she often talked about her daughter, she never complained about the nursing home, and they were stunned at what she'd done. But they said Harden had become increasingly worried for her daughter's well being and long-term care, especially as her own health declined.

Harden "mentioned twice that her daughter didn't want to put up with it anymore. But you don't expect this," said Paul Rosa, who lived next door to Harden. "She was very kind, a wonderful person. I think it just became too much."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/19/BAIC19P84E.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0RZCDnHOg



Top 3 reader responses at sfgate...

This is sad and another reflection of our failed health care system.

Yet another example of what happens when republicans deregulate everything.

So few 'quality' homes in California. Why? And if they are decent, you end up paying through the nose each month. It's a no-win situation. This is how we treat our citizens who are no longer of use to us. Absolutely disgraceful.

[Turbineguy]

1. So, who gets their annual

bonus increased?

[malaise]

2. I won't judge this lady

If it was my daughter I might have done the same. :cry: :cry:

[lunatica]

3. This is very sad n/t

[marew]

4. This breaks my heart.

Where is the compassion, the kindness? Certainly not in the Republican Party. They claim to be Christian but their true god is money. I do not claim to be a Christian. To me they have made a mockery of it. How many times did Jesus talk about helping the poor? And, he said, "what you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me."
I am sure this poor mother believed she had no choice. I would never, never judge her either.

[rrneck]

5. I bet the management of the facility

has plenty to think about if they were negligent. She could just as easily have gone after them. Then it would be another horrible irrational killing, but in fact it was the system that let her down and she would have resorted to the same tactics that opressed people throughout history have used. Violence.

[KansDem]

6. It's a shame that the two most-needed occupations in this country...

Day care and elderly care, have such low salaries--

Day Care--2006
Other residential care facilities $20,770
Elementary and secondary schools 20,220
Civic and social organizations 16,460
Child day care services 16,320 yearly
Other amusement and recreation industries 16,300

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos170.htm

Elderly Care--2005
Table 4. Average earnings and hours of nonsupervisory workers in health services by industry segment, 2006 Industry segment Earnings Weekly
hours
Weekly Hourly

Total, private industry
$568 $16.76 33.9

Health services
623 18.73 33.3
Hospitals, public and private
794 22.19 35.8
Medical and diagnostic laboratories
715 19.48 36.7
Offices of physicians
669 19.98 33.5
Outpatient care centers
658 19.33 34.1
Offices of dentists
557 20.51 27.1
Other ambulatory health care services
555 15.58 35.7
Offices of other health practitioners
498 17.27 28.8
Home health care services
429 14.78 29.0
Nursing and residential care facilities
415 12.84 hourly 32.3

http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs035.htm

[ingac70]

7. ....

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm#earnings

It's really even worse than that.

[Odin2005]

9. Don't forget care for the disabled.

I don't have any info of the top of my head, but the statistics for the abuse of the disabled are shocking.

[juno jones]

8. I believe that poor lady.

When I was a nurses aide in the 80's the going wage was minimum -$3.35 hr.- the horrible things these people would say and do to their charges sickened me. I had hoped things had improved with marginally higher wages and training, but it sounds like, at least in some places, it hasn't.

I sympathise with that poor woman and hope that this shakes up some facilities and generates awareness of how people are often treated in them.