In many cases, it’s virtually legal, through the use of involuntary commitment laws like Florida’s notorious Baker Act, California’s 5150 and Nevada’s Legal 2000, which are found in nearly every state.
The families of Ken Donley and Leroy Theodore learned the hard way. They discovered that their beloved, elderly relatives had been sucked into the abusive world of guardianship and psychiatric “treatment” centers and couldn’t even find out where they were being held.
“Those who wish to harm the vulnerable have used these laws to embezzle assets and take away the rights of those who cannot protect themselves.”
Donley and Theodore were seized, then transferred to new locations. Their families weren’t allowed to have contact with them for days.
Donley, 78, a Vietnam veteran diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was checked into Saint Francis Hospital emergency room in Tulsa.
His daughters held a durable power of attorney over him, but that meant nothing to Saint Francis, which checked him into the adjacent Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital and then filed a mental health petition to get him involuntarily committed.
For five days, his family members weren’t allowed to see him. Donley was finally released after his daughter, Donna, brought a copy of her power of attorney to the hospital, but not before Donley was charged $12,198—$10,714 of which was paid for by Medicare.
Donley was transferred back to Saint Francis Hospital and then to a care center. He died shortly after returning home.
Theodore, 76, another Vietnam veteran, suffered two debilitating strokes leaving him quadriplegic and unable to speak.
Saint Francis Hospital likewise seized control of Theodore, in effect kidnapping him by initiating guardianship proceedings claiming his daughter was unable to adequately provide him care. The family was prevented from seeing him for a month and a half.
He died still under state guardianship. His family wasn’t informed until a week after he passed away.
Esther Houser, retired Oklahoma State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, said of Theodore’s experience: “That’s the most bizarre story I think I’ve ever heard. There are times when hospitals and families are in conflict about who is abusing who, but in a creepy way, it’s human trafficking.”
Why would hospitals and nursing homes do this? Well, if they can get guardianship control over patients, they can continue their hospitalization, transfer them at will and milk their estate and Medicare or Medicaid for cash to pay for their stay.
Obtaining guardianship “is a strategic move to intimidate,” said Ginalisa Monterroso, chief executive of Medicaid Advisory Group. Nursing homes do it “just to bring money.”
The whistleblower said they knew of 15 such cases held under guardianship at Laureate alone—but that may be merely the very small tip of a very large, very dirty iceberg.
The extent of the problem nationwide remains largely unknown.
A New York Times article entitled, “To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes Are Seizing Control Over Patients” states: “Throughout the country, data is lacking on the most basic facts about guardianships, even how many there are.”
In a study by Hunter College of 700 Manhattan guardianship patients over 10 years, some 12 percent were found to be initiated by nursing homes.
In reference to a nursing home in a case that came before him, New York State Supreme Court Justice Alexander W. Hunter Jr. wrote: “It would be an understatement to declare that this court is outraged by the behavior exhibited by the interested parties—parties who were supposed to protect the person, but who have all unabashedly demonstrated through their actions in connection with the person that they are only interested in getting paid.”
“You don’t want to go to Laureate, because you’ll be disappeared.”
Sarah C. Stewart, an attorney who specializes in elder law, said, “The circumstances surrounding guardianships have always been ripe for abuse.
“Those who wish to harm the vulnerable have used these laws to embezzle assets and take away the rights of those who cannot protect themselves.”
It appears to be a profitable enterprise: Laureate is about to expand their psychiatric ward from 45 beds to 60.
“You don’t want to go to Laureate, because you’ll be disappeared,” the whistleblower said, who explained that it’s easier to hide patients there.
In a study entitled, “The Use and Misuse of Guardianship by Hospitals and Nursing Homes,” Michigan Elder Justice Initiative Director Alison Hirschel and National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care Executive Director Lori Smetanka, wrote: “Petitions for guardianship filed by hospitals or nursing homes should be viewed cautiously—especially because of the extraordinary imbalance of power between the healthcare institution and the individual.”
Hospitals, they said, can be motivated to attempt to seize control of patients to ensure that bills will be paid.
Rick Black founded the Center for Estate Administration Reform in 2018, “to bring attention to the issue of predatory attorneys targeting vulnerable adults, most often seniors.”
He explained that mental health holds are a growing issue nationwide. “Holds are easily obtained by motivating a medical professional or law enforcement officer to take the vulnerable adult to a hospital,” he said. “Once admitted, qualified doctors have every ability, with good intentions or not, to draft paperwork that easily justifies a guardianship, whether one is needed or not.
“The lack of oversight in our equity court system and the ability for attorneys to work together can create a narrative that completely dupes a judge and allows them to inappropriately get control of you and your estate.”
To protect yourselves and your loved ones, he advises, “Execute a durable power of attorney and a healthcare surrogate or healthcare advanced directive, naming an agent and a successor agent on those documents.
“And, most importantly, after you have them notarized, you sit down with those agents and give them a copy of that document and make sure that they understand that you are contracting with them that if you become vulnerable or cannot speak for yourself, that they’re to come to your aid and support you in that regard.”
Donna, for her part, has tried to obtain her father’s medical records and ran into fierce opposition from authorities, who appear to be trying to protect the hospitals from accountability.
After her father was released from Laureate, Donna discovered scabs and raw patches on his wrists and ankles, suggesting coarse straps had been used to restrain him.
As she put it, in typical Oklahoma fashion, “It chaps my hide.”
