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Two Serious Elder Abuse Cases in San Francisco Bay

Two serious cases of elder abuse came to light in SF Bay Area nursing homes this week—one a case of financial abuse and the second murder.

Both cases are described in this article

On Monday, March 22, 32 year-old Maximo Hong Fajardo Jr. of San Francisco allegedly smothered a nursing home resident, 87-year-old Barbara McIver, in full view of other residents and staff using a pillow. Although Fajardo has worked as a certified nursing assistant since 1999, he had worked only 2 weeks at Convalescent Center Mission Street at 5767 Mission St., near the Daly City border prior to the incident. He has no previous criminal record nor has a complaint ever been lodged against him.

Genuinely disturbing to see someone seemly snap so suddenly and inexplicably.

As for the other case

Giron, formerly an assistant administrator of the Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 2829 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley, told a supervisor a year ago that Williams was being transferred to another care home.

In actuality, Giron allegedly moved into Williams into her own home and started cashing Williams’ pension and Social Security checks. Williams was found in Giron’s home in August 2009 and had apparently been cared for adequately. But Giron had also opened bank accounts at Citibank for five other patients in 2008 and transferred money from those accounts into her own bank account. Giron then allegedly wrote checks to herself from the residents’ accounts and used their ATM cards.

On the bright side, the seniors were reportably treated well. Frightening that someone could get away with basically kidnapping someone and draining their life savings.

And finally, the article mentions a shocking statistic:

Although most people who work in nursing homes are truly there to help elders, these incidents are unfortunately not isolated cases. One of every 20 elderly people in California will be a victim of neglect or physical, psychological, or financial abuse this year.

If you know someone under the care of a nursing home or similar facilities, please visit often, and do not be afraid to voice your concerns should the need arise.