Nursing home to blame for dumping man

MARION, Ind., (WANE) - For the past month, 46-year-old Gregory George has been settling into a new assisted living facility in Marion.

He relocated to Park Villa after he says his old nursing home, Wesley Healthcare Center in Auburn, abandoned him inside an Angola Hospital Emergency Room .

"It's a good facility, they're here. They meet my needs, couldn't ask for better services," said George.

In January, George says Wesley caretakers abruptly grabbed him and dropped him off inside the ER of Cameron Memorial Community Hospita l in Angola.

7:49 "They chose to drag me, drove me out of the county, dropped me off and leave," George told NewsChannel 15.

George said there was no reason for caretakers to take him to the hospital. He said that his condition, and needs, have not changed. Since the spring of 2008 when George first arrived at Wesley, he has had a permanent tracheotomy. The condition requires him to receive oxygen through a tube in his neck around the clock.

George suspected the nursing home had plotted to dump him, but didn't know why.

A 15-page report released by the State Department of Health confirms Wesley is responsible for dumping George. The findings reveal three key criteria the facility failed to meet.

-It failed to re-admit a resident who was transferred.

-Staff did not let the facility's administrator know that they'd determined a resident was potentially dangerous.

-The facility did not have a written policy requiring the reporting of abuse allegations.

Wesley Healthcare is now taking steps to correct those problems. It's updated its abuse/neglect policy and changed the requirements of its reporting procedures.

State health officials are planning to drop by the facility to survey things soon. They're also recommending that Wesley be penalized with a federal fine.

State leaders say the case has the potential to affect the facility's score on state and national report cards.

George says he feels vindicated by the findings, and is considering a lawsuit.

"I was ecstatic, that all that they did to me, and all my allegations were upheld and substantiated by the state of Indiana," George told NewsChannel 15. "Now that I've got the validation, I just want to show everyone that they were wrong for what they did."

George hopes to return to Auburn one day to be closer to family and friends, but he's ruled out the possibility of ever returning to Wesley.

"It's just not a place that I would recommend someone put their loved one, at all," he said.