Chilton Co. Nursing Home Employee Convicted of Abuse
Attorney General Luther Strange announced the conviction of a former employee of a Chilton County nursing home for the abuse of a resident of the facility. Katherine Blevins Lenoir, 53, of Maplesville, pleaded guilty today to one count of reckless abuse of a protected person, a class C felony.
Lenoir is a former employee of Don Hatley Healthcare and Rehabilitation of Clanton. Lenoir, a licensed practical nurse, admitted that she inadvertently administered a large dose of a narcotic pain medication to a resident of the facility instead of the requested cough medicine. Lenoir, instead of alerting the facility to her mistake, manipulated treatment records to reflect that she had given the correct medication.
The patient, suffering from an overdose of the narcotic pain medication, was discovered by a nurse on a later shift and rushed to the hospital where she spent several days in the intensive care unit before being released. If Lenoir reported her mistake immediately, the patient would not have suffered nearly the prolonged effects of the narcotic. However, due to her failure to report the incident, the resident almost died.
Lenoir’s sentencing is set for May 11 before Chilton County Circuit Judge Ben Fuller. She faces a possible sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.
Attorney General Strange thanked the management of Don Hatley Healthcare for their prompt reporting of the incident and commended his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their investigation and prosecution of the case.
