Mother, son arrested at makeshift nursing home

GREENFIELD, Ind. - Police have arrested a mother and son accused of operating an unlicensed adult-care facility out of a duplex in central Indiana.

The 64-year-old mother and her 35-year-old son were arrested Monday morning following an investigation of their company in Greenfield, the Daily Reporter reports. They face charges of neglect and criminal recklessness, and were expected to appear in court Tuesday.

Seven seniors living at the makeshift nursing home were taken to a hospital, according to police. The mother and son lived in one side of the duplex, and patients were kept on the other side, court records say.

Jerry Kiefer, an investigator for the state Adult Protective Services unit, said neither the mother nor her son had a medical license or any certifications letting them use their home as a care facility. Court records say operations at their home hadn’t raised red flags because of the small number of patients, until a hospice nurse who visited made a complaint earlier this month.

Kiefer said it seems the facility avoid inspection for years due to a loophole in state law because it’s considered a private residence.

Patients were caged in their beds with metal dog gates, and were locked in their rooms and left alone for hours, according to court documents. None of the rooms had call buttons, intercoms or cameras so that staff could be notified of an emergency, court records say.

The mother told investigators that the gates were put up with permission from patients’ families and for patients’ safety, mostly to keep them from falling out of bed. But investigators said patients weren’t kept safely in place by the gates.

There were no records of medicines given to patients, according to court records, and investigators said only private payment was accepted. Kiefer said the facility would have required more oversight if Medicaid or Medicare were accepted.