Carehome workers force 91-year-old dementia patient to wear gown she dislikes for entertainment, share disturbing video on Snapchat
A 91-year-old dementia patient was terrorized by caretakers who were tasked with getting the patient to change into the hospital gown. The video was recorded by the caretakers and was then posted on Snapchat.
Margaret Collins, the patient in the video, has a strong dislike for hospital gowns and she seemed to be scared of the gown in the video as the caretakers try to force her into one. The video that was uploaded was captioned, "Margaret Hates Gowns" which is then followed by two emojis.
The video was recorded in 2018 at Abington Care Home in Chicago. The caretakers in the video, Brayan Cortez and Jamie Montesa, were charged with abusing Collins. During the investigation, Cortez told police that the video was a part of an inside joke, however, Collins' daughter Joan Biebel didn't find it funny.
Speaking to Chicago CBS, Biebel said, "That was their disturbing form of entertainment? It was so disturbing to see." She added, "She’s like a little bird. She’s a little person. She’s, you know, very frail – like, what are you doing? I knew immediately that we had to go to the police department. This was completely wrong. My mother had an expectation of privacy."
Collins also spoke to the investigators and said that she was scared that Cortez would force her to wear the gown. Attorney Margaret Battersby Black of the firm Levin & Perconti said, "That’s exactly what this is. It’s abuse. They knew that she didn’t like this and they persisted in doing it." He filed a lawsuit on behalf of Collins this week and further added, "Not only did she not get the care she needed, but she got bullied and taunted instead."
The lawsuit in question accused the Abington of violating the Nursing Home Care Act, HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), and state privacy laws. It was also determined by the Illinois Department of Public Health that Abington failed to implement its “abuse prevention policy,” which resulted in Collins feeling “degradation and shame."
The Abington said in a statement, "Recently, two employees were immediately terminated when it was determined that they violated our standards and policies." The two former nursing assistants will appear in court later this month and in the meanwhile, Collins has been transferred to a different facility.