Summerhaven chairman denies mistreatment
John Powell, chairman of the Summerhaven home for the physically challenged, maintains he has the full backing of his board — but some staff and residents allege mismanagement and poor treatment.
Mr Powell met The Royal Gazette in response to complaints after four residents and two staff approached this newspaper with serious concerns about the loss of money provided by the Department of Financial Assistance to pay for meals and other amenities at Summerhaven. They claim that some of the facility’s 18 tenants are being left unfed while others have to fend for themselves — and two tenants said they had been subjected to verbal abuse after complaining.
Medication is dispensed with no nurse on duty, they said, and residents are being charged for transport on Summerhaven’s bus on weekends.
They said grievances had been lodged with the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged, but had resulted in nothing. The group that spoke with The Royal Gazette asked not to be identified, saying a climate of fear had residents wary of losing their places in Summerhaven.
“I am very open — and one thing they have said is absolutely correct,” Mr Powell said. “They did take it to NOSPC. We were interviewed over it, and that’s why nothing happened. Everything was all right.”
Board member Sharon Godwin said claims that the chairman mistreated any resident of the facility, where 18 people live, “could not be farther from the truth”. Mr Powell acknowledged that Summerhaven had been put under pressure by cuts to its Government grant, most recently by $40,000 down to $400,000 in the 2015-16 Budget.
“We’re under a big-time strain,” he said. “I can’t blame the Government; it’s happening with everybody.”
Mr Powell said the internal politics of Summerhaven meant that not everyone would be happy, but he insisted that the facility’s goal was to “make it stay a place of independent living”, and rebutted accusations (see sidebar on page 2) that Summerhaven was being run in a dictatorial manner.
His remarks came as the Ministry of Health, Seniors and the Environment confirmed that it had received complaints about conditions and care at Summerhaven.
Those complaints are being taken “very seriously” by Health Minister Jeanne Atherden, a spokesman said.
He added that the minister had taken “immediate steps to address the complaints and bring about improvements in the facility and its administration”.
The ministry is taking action under new provisions of the Charities Act 2014, the spokesman said, which authorises the Registrar General to conduct investigations.
“It’s been reported to every department in the Government and nothing gets done,” said one resident, who added that there had been a shift at Summerhaven from its status as an assisted living facility to that of a rest home.
“Summerhaven was not built to be a rest home; it was built as independent living for the disabled,” the tenant said.
“Summerhaven was a brilliant idea for the physically challenged. But around two years ago, it became Summerhaven rest home without anyone knowing. It was done by the board and the chairman, John Powell.
“The residents were not told. I found out by going to Financial Assistance to check on my finances; when it was under the old Summerhaven system, the residents got financial assistance.
“You got a little money for clothing, transportation and the telephone, and money for food. All that stopped with no explanation. The residents got a letter saying they would no longer be getting financial assistance.”
He described the management of the facility as “an embarrassment” and said his complaints to Mr Powell had been ignored.
“What irritates me about the board here is that the chairman is ‘God’. He is the one who makes the decisions. The Summerhaven board does not challenge him.”
Staff and other residents corroborated this belief and said another topic of particular concern was that medication was being given out without the supervision of a nurse.
Residents, including persons with diabetes and high blood pressure, were being fed the same food, including fried chicken and salty snacks.
One co-ordinator told this newspaper that they were “constantly buying food and other personal items for the residents”, adding: “To my knowledge, Mr Powell has been advised that Summerhaven is now required to provide all meals for the residents, but he refuses to do so.
“The meals that are prepared aren’t even prepared according to the residents’ health needs. One thing is made per day and everyone has to eat it. When the cook is out sick, Mr Powell will send the driver, Albert Carter, to either pick up KFC or Mr Chicken burgers.”
The co-ordinator said that the chairman had opted two years ago for government assistance. Residents stopped receiving their food allotment fund of several hundred dollars a month. The meal regimen at the facility consists of lunch and an evening snack, but “on weekends and holidays, the residents have to fend for themselves”. The co-ordinator added: “The residents have to pay to wash their laundry, and on weekends and holidays they pay the driver to take them to do errands. They also have to buy their own toiletries, cleaning products and clothing. How are they supposed to purchase any of these if they receive no monies?
“Many of the residents have been depending on help from people they know, but times are hard for everyone and now, as of late, some of the people that were helping some of the residents can no longer assist.
“This is why things are getting hairy. One resident in particular only had that one person. Now he has no one and nothing: no food, no personal items, nothing.
“The money they used to receive bought these items; their independence has been taken from them and no one is doing anything. They are being intimidated, verbally abused, refused service and so much more. Several of them have become deeply depressed.”
Many residents are not literate, according to other residents, making them vulnerable and fearful of speaking out, while staff are non-unionised and frustrated, but equally reluctant to complain.
One outspoken resident, who is largely bedridden, said that bottles of water had been thrown at him instead of being passed to him, while meals were not brought to him from the dining room.
“I’m not saying they’re deliberately doing things wrong,” another resident said. “Things are being done wrong and they don’t know it. The disabled here are not being treated with respect. As for the chairman, if he does not want to hear what you say, he walks away.”
The Summerhaven residential home for the physically challenged has not registered as a rest home, board chairman John Powell said in response to resident complaints.
“It’s still a place for independent living,” Mr Powell said. “What happened was, 2½ years ago we had four residents sent to us from the hospital. The hospital paid for their keep. You will recall that the Government cut the hospital’s funding and in turn the hospital cut our funding.”
In addition, while Government pays the rent at Summerhaven, the chairman said the rent had increased.
Meanwhile, residents who received financial assistance, the payments were cut by whatever amount Summerhaven residents were receiving from other sources, such as pensions or their disability insurance.
“For them to say they’re getting no money is just an outright lie,” he said. “For as long as Summerhaven has existed, they have always got their own breakfasts and on weekends they have looked after themselves. The rules are still the same.
“All they have to pay for is their laundry. They don’t pay for CableVision, telephone, electricity or internet. I can take you into any room right now and open the fridge; they always have plenty of food.”
Mr Powell said some residents had family members, or others responsible for them, to look after them on weekends, while staff looked after those who were unable to care for themselves.
One resident who remained in his room did not have food brought to him because “we have rules here, and one of the rules is that if you don’t come to the dining room for your food, and you’re not sick, you’re not getting it”.
As for allegations that residents had to pay for the use of Summerhaven’s bus, Mr Powell said: “Very rarely do they have to pay. If we had to pay the driver ourselves every weekend, we would be in terrible trouble.”
He disputed that medication was given out by untrained staff, adding: “By law we don’t have to have a registered nurse here all the time. Any medication given to them is supervised — we have a district nurse that comes in.”
All but two residents are responsible for taking their medications themselves, he said, and there had “never been any mix-up with medications here”.
The chairman also rebutted claims that inappropriate food was served to some tenants, saying meals were prepared according to doctor’s directions.
“We have a resident who insists on fried food,” Mr Powell said. “It’s independent living and I’m not here to lecture him.”
He said any complaint in Summerhaven came to him as chairman. “Every one is investigated. If they’re not happy with the outcome, they can take it to the board.”
Summerhaven is seeking ways of generating more funding and plans to introduce a physical rehabilitation service on-site to generate revenue — and ensure that patients who formerly had to fly overseas for treatment got to remain on the Island for occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
