Nanny cam films patient's abuse, triggers charges at Haverford facility

Almost from the time Lois McCallister was moved to the dementia unit at the Quadrangle nursing-care facility, her daughter says there were troubling signs.

Her mother's $5,000 hearing aids went missing, Mary French said. Staff members were overheard shouting at one another. Insurance forms, to be filled out by the staff, went unfinished.

But it was her mother's claim that people were hitting her that sent Mary French and her husband, Paul, to their computer.

"I Googled hidden camera," Paul French said Tuesday. With a few more keystrokes and $250 on a credit card, he bought a nanny cam to secretly place in his mother-in-law's room.

A few nights later, the couple sat with their laptop and watched in horror as three caregivers hit and pulled on a half-naked McCallister.

The recording of the incident led Haverford police to bring charges against three workers at the nursing facility for allegedly abusing McCallister.

Last week, the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) revoked the license of the Quadrangle, on Darby Road in Haverford. It remains open pending an appeal of the decision.

Haverford Township police say they have since received about five calls concerning other possible cases of abuse at the facility. They referred two cases to Delaware County's Office of Services for the Aging (COSA), and DPW for investigation.

Louis Colbert, director of COSA, acknowledged his office was looking into more than one case of possible abuse at the Quadrangle. He declined to elaborate.

Mark Ordan, chief executive officer of Sunrise Senior Living, which owns the Quadrangle, defended his facility, saying the case involving McCallister was an aberration.

"We do a very good job," he said.

He said he expected the Quadrangle to get its licence restored on appeal.

Still, he acknowledged being greatly troubled by what the nanny cam uncovered.

"I was shocked by what I saw," Ordan said. He called the actions of the three former workers "simply appalling."

Tuesday, he held a closed-door meeting with residents to hear their concerns and to assure their safety and care.

Mary and Paul French are planning to file a civil suit, according to Robert Mongeluzzi, the family's attorney.

Mary French said the decision to move her mother to the Quadrangle came after much research and thought.

McCallister and her family searched for a facility that would provide the increasing levels of care that McCallister would need as her disease progressed.

"She knew what that road was," Mary French said. "She didn't want to become a burden to us."

The family settled on the Quadrangle in part because of its reputation - founded by Haverford College professors and Quaker philosophy - and for the three levels of care it offered.

In January 2009, McCallister moved into an apartment at the Quadrangle.

Two years later, after she was hospitalized for an infection, it was clear McCallister would need to move into assisted living. The staff recommended the 20-bed dementia unit, Reminiscence.

It was in that unit that her mother was found to have been tormented by workers.

"They took away her last remaining happiness," French said, her voice breaking and eyes welling with tears. "They robbed her of her dignity."

McCallister has since moved in with her daughter and her husband. Their daily life has been turned upside down as they juggle full-time jobs with full-time caregiving. They plan to care for McCallister on their own at this point.

"It is hard to trust after this," Mary French said.