MEDICAL SCAMS – AN IN HOME NURSE HORROR STORY

Don’t be too quick to trust the stranger in your home, even if they come with legitimate credentials. Last week we explored some of the scams being utilized to take advantage of the aging, whether through bogus long-term care insurance or shady old folks’ homes. It’s time to turn our attention a little closer to home with the story of an in home nurse who turned out to be a criminal.

For the older or infirm patient longing to spend some time free from the confines of the hospital, the comforts and safety of home are often only a possibility with regularly scheduled visits from an in home nurse. The patient’s ability to complete certain chores or manage areas of their own healthcare is sometimes compromised by their condition and the daily or weekly visits from a visiting RN are a necessity.

While most in home nurses deserve our sincere thanks and praise for the fantastic work they accomplish, there are still the rare horror stories of those who did not live up to their oaths as caregivers. These instances might be uncommon, but if it happens to you the effects can be devastating.

This is the story of a severely ill New York City woman who found herself a victim of the most callous class of scammer, someone who had sworn to care for and protect her. It’s anecdotal to be sure, but the pain and suffering it caused on top of the victim’s illness needs to be examined, if only to remind us who aren’t yet in her position that its never a good idea to blindly trust someone seems too good to be true. The names have been changed at the victim’s request, but the details are, sadly, true.

The phone call came as Deena Vale was recovering from a surgery to remove several cancerous tumors lodged between her vertebrae. Deena began to sob. The cancer was back, but that wasn’t what had finally broken her spirit. The news her daughter offered from the other end of the phone was responsible for the meltdown. Deena was in shock. “She stole from me!” She cried, “She stole from me.”

Deena is a sixty year old woman who has been fighting serious illness for over ten years. A near-death pancreatic failure, breast cancer resulting in two mastectomies, and a torn rotator cuff weakened her body immensely. Several years ago, she fell in the subway and broke her hip. Upon further examination, doctors discovered the breast cancer had metastasized into her hip, shoulder and back. After having the joint replaced, she began both radiological treatment and chemotherapy. She improved. She battled back. Deena kept her day job and continued to fight.

Last summer, Deena’s new hip began to be the source of great pain. She missed work and had trouble getting around at all. The doctor’s said the artificial hip had come lose from the bone. It took two surgeries and over four months in the hospital for Deena to find her way home. But after the prolonged trauma to her leg, she still wasn’t exactly mobile.

Thankfully, the insurance company allowed Deena to hire an in home nurse for a limited amount of time. They would pay for five daily visits, providing Deena enough time to get settled back into home while recovering her ability to get around the house.

She procured assistance through the company Americare, Inc. They sent a nurse to Deena’s home. Her name was Hayden Rivera, she had recently trained to be a registered nurse and had performed well enough to meet Americare’s standards.

In home nurses are often responsible for a lot more than just nursing. Many act almost as personal assistants, helping with chores around the house and taking care of the daily business at home that many of us probably take for granted. Hayden was no different and she was more than eager to lend Deena a helping hand.

Deena didn’t require much in the way of nursing. Some help getting into and out of the bath and maybe having help clipping the toenails she couldn’t reach, but mostly she was looking to have a companion for those first few days home. Hayden filled this need well.

They spent long hours at home together. Hayden helped Deena take walks both around her apartment and out into the world. They sat and laughed while watching bad daytime television. Hayden would run out and grab frozen yogurt for them both, refusing to let Deena pay for the treats. After five days Deena began to think of her caregiver as a friend.

Hayden showed great sympathy for Deena and her plight. She was interested in hearing about the woman’s children and looked forward to meeting them some day. Hayden was a bit cagier about her own past. It was troubled. She was currently living in a shelter, but had passed her course in nursing and was happy to finally be turning her life around. Deena felt like it they were both facing new beginnings together.

At the end of five days, Deena refused to give Hayden up. She asked the nurse, her friend, to come back the next week. Even though she was barely getting by on disability, Deena felt it was important to have Hayden back, for both their sakes. The following week they spent a day out shopping for clothes and food, and scheduled another day together for the week following.

A few nights later, the mild back pain Deena had been experiencing suddenly blossomed into a full blown crisis. She couldn’t get up from the chair she had sat down in earlier, the pain was too severe. Late at night and unable to get anyone on the phone, including Hayden, Deena called 911.

At the hospital, the ER staff quickly gave the bad news. There were new tumors wedged between the vertebrae of her lower spine. She went into surgery the next day. The first friendly face she saw in recovery was Hayden. She had told the staff she was Deena’s caregiver and they granted her access into the recovery room. Deena was happy to see her, but they were never left alone as the hospital’s nurses were a constant presence. Hayden said she would come back the next day.
Deena doesn’t remember that next visit so well. She was heavily drugged and in and out of consciousness. She knows Hayden was there, but doesn’t remember for how long. Deena does remember asking Hayden to hand her the purse from her bedside table. She wanted to give her former in home nurse a few dollars to take a cab back home.

A week later Deena was in rehab. She had left a message for Hayden earlier in the day, asking if she would be willing to drop by Deena’s apartment and bring some fresh clothes. Then she got the phone call from her daughter.

Tasked with paying her mother’s bills, Deena’s daughter had gone online to pay the rent and electricity only to find the bank account empty. Eight checks had been written and cashed over the course of two days. The checks had Deena Vale’s name in the signature line, but it wasn’t her signature. They were also written the day after Deena’s surgery, when she was heavily drugged and in out of consciousness.

Seven checks of the checks were made out to Hayden Rivera, one was made out to Hayden’s boyfriend. In all, over $3,500 was taken from Deena Vale’s account. All the money she had in the world. This happened two weeks before Christmas.

“She stole from me!” Deena cried, “She stole from me. Everything I have. Why? Why would she do that to me? She knows how hard my life has been, she understood. Why would she do this to me? I would have given her everything I could if she just asked.”

The bank agreed. The signatures did not belong to Deena Vale. Thankfully, a few weeks later they returned the stolen funds into her account. The police came to the hospital and took a statement. They issued a warrant for Hayden Rivera, but a detective told Deena that unless she was picked up for some other offense there wasn’t much hope of them ever finding the con artist. Americare, Inc. claims they had fired Hayden shortly after her first five days of service with Deena and before the theft occurred. They have not had contact with her since the dismissal.

Deena is home now. This time she isn’t just recovering from her latest stint in the hospital, she’s also dealing with the supreme betrayal of someone she came to trust and love. Let this story serve as warning. Always keep one eye open on the stranger in the house, even those that come highly recommended. True, this is just one woman’s story. But it happened, and it deserves to be heard.