The owner of a Tucson assisted-living home has agreed to give up her license after the death of a resident whose arm was severely chewed by a small dog who lived at the home.
Maria Lelle, owner of Mountain Oak, 1761 W. Mountain Oak Lane, near West Drexel and South Midvale Park roads, also will pay a $450 fine to the Arizona Department of Health Services and will not be able to apply for a new license for two years.
In exchange, the department will not pursue further legal action against Lelle, according to a copy of the agreement released Friday.
Nina Borseth, 91, suffered from advanced Alzheimer's before her death on May 24. That was four days after a Mountain Oak caregiver ?— the only person on duty at the time of the incident ?— found the dog on Borseth's bed around 8:40 a.m.
The caregiver had not checked on Borseth since 6 a.m., according to reports from the Tucson Police Department and the Arizona Department of Health Services, which licenses assisted-living homes.
The dog's face was bloodied and much of the flesh on the elderly woman's right arm had been torn away ?— a wound extending from her wrist to about four inches above her elbow, according to the the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner.
Borseth died primarily of complications from Alzheimer's, but the injuries caused by the dog were a contributing factor in her death, the medical examiner's report said.
Police and health officials have offered different explanations of how the 10-pound terrier mix caused such a severe injury, removing enough flesh to expose muscle and bone.
The dog had to have bitten and chewed on the woman's arm, Drs. Bruce Parks and Eric Peters, chief medical examiner and deputy medical examiner, respectively, have said. And the Mountain Oak caregiver told a Tucson police investigator ''that the dog was gnawing on (Borseth's) right arm.''
But Dr. Michael Ferenc, the pathologist in the medical examiner's office who examined Borseth's body, said ''no repetitive serrations or discrete puncture marks are identified that would be distinctive or definitive of carnivore teeth marks.''
In addition, Parks said, emergency-room doctors who cleaned the wounds may have enlarged them and cut away any bite marks.
Borseth ''never woke from the incident and did not appear to be aware of what was happening,'' the police investigator concluded. She was taken from Mountain Oak to University Medical Center, which was asked by family members not to release information about her treatment.
A woman who answered the phone at Mountain Oak on Friday said Lelle was not there and hung up.
A Tucson relative of Borseth's contacted Friday declined to comment on the incident.
Borseth was one of five residents of Mountain Oak, according to the police report. When Lelle agreed to give up her license, she also agreed to care for no more than two residents at a time, the maximum allowed by the state for unlicensed facilities, said Lisa Wynn, deputy assistant director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Lelle was responsible for notifying the other three residents or their families that the three would have to move, Wynn said, but the health department oversaw the process.
State Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, said the $450 fine sounded ''very low'' but having to surrender a business license ''is a much greater penalty.'' But Hellon also said the Legislature needs to examine whether the state health department has the rules and resources to properly regulate elder-care facilities.
''It sounds like something we need to dig into,'' Hellon said. ''The need is going to grow. We've got to take care of this sort of thing because there are going to be more and more of these places providing care for the elderly.''
The state's enforcement action against Lelle was ''a step in the right direction, but it's not enough,'' said Stewart Grabel, ombudsman for Pima Council on Aging.
By Jane Erikson, AZ DAILY STAR
Maria Lelle, owner of Mountain Oak, 1761 W. Mountain Oak Lane, near West Drexel and South Midvale Park roads, also will pay a $450 fine to the Arizona Department of Health Services and will not be able to apply for a new license for two years.
In exchange, the department will not pursue further legal action against Lelle, according to a copy of the agreement released Friday.
Nina Borseth, 91, suffered from advanced Alzheimer's before her death on May 24. That was four days after a Mountain Oak caregiver ?— the only person on duty at the time of the incident ?— found the dog on Borseth's bed around 8:40 a.m.
The caregiver had not checked on Borseth since 6 a.m., according to reports from the Tucson Police Department and the Arizona Department of Health Services, which licenses assisted-living homes.
The dog's face was bloodied and much of the flesh on the elderly woman's right arm had been torn away ?— a wound extending from her wrist to about four inches above her elbow, according to the the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner.
Borseth died primarily of complications from Alzheimer's, but the injuries caused by the dog were a contributing factor in her death, the medical examiner's report said.
Police and health officials have offered different explanations of how the 10-pound terrier mix caused such a severe injury, removing enough flesh to expose muscle and bone.
The dog had to have bitten and chewed on the woman's arm, Drs. Bruce Parks and Eric Peters, chief medical examiner and deputy medical examiner, respectively, have said. And the Mountain Oak caregiver told a Tucson police investigator ''that the dog was gnawing on (Borseth's) right arm.''
But Dr. Michael Ferenc, the pathologist in the medical examiner's office who examined Borseth's body, said ''no repetitive serrations or discrete puncture marks are identified that would be distinctive or definitive of carnivore teeth marks.''
In addition, Parks said, emergency-room doctors who cleaned the wounds may have enlarged them and cut away any bite marks.
Borseth ''never woke from the incident and did not appear to be aware of what was happening,'' the police investigator concluded. She was taken from Mountain Oak to University Medical Center, which was asked by family members not to release information about her treatment.
A woman who answered the phone at Mountain Oak on Friday said Lelle was not there and hung up.
A Tucson relative of Borseth's contacted Friday declined to comment on the incident.
Borseth was one of five residents of Mountain Oak, according to the police report. When Lelle agreed to give up her license, she also agreed to care for no more than two residents at a time, the maximum allowed by the state for unlicensed facilities, said Lisa Wynn, deputy assistant director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Lelle was responsible for notifying the other three residents or their families that the three would have to move, Wynn said, but the health department oversaw the process.
State Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, said the $450 fine sounded ''very low'' but having to surrender a business license ''is a much greater penalty.'' But Hellon also said the Legislature needs to examine whether the state health department has the rules and resources to properly regulate elder-care facilities.
''It sounds like something we need to dig into,'' Hellon said. ''The need is going to grow. We've got to take care of this sort of thing because there are going to be more and more of these places providing care for the elderly.''
The state's enforcement action against Lelle was ''a step in the right direction, but it's not enough,'' said Stewart Grabel, ombudsman for Pima Council on Aging.
By Jane Erikson, AZ DAILY STAR
