One may feel that by placing their loved ones under the care of a skilled nursing facility, they would be provided with quality care. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. An investigation began on March 29, 2013 when an employee at an assisted living facility, Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce in Jacksonville County contacted authorities to report cases of abuse. The Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce focuses on elders who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
After some investigation, the facility was raided in July 2013. Authorities arrested twenty employees and the owner of the facility following claims that the staff assaulted, restrained, and over-medicated patients. The facility is currently facing a total of seventy two criminal charges. However, according to Mike Ayers, the special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Athens regional office, there could be more charges. They will not know until the district attorney looks at the files. The abuses that are being reported are cruel, inhumane; and so severe that the case may be forwarded to a grand jury this May.