(QCOSTARICA) OIJ, the investigative agency under the Napoleonic Code, conducts many raids, some of them with drawn guns, but the raid it conducted Wednesday on an Escazu home for the aged was a quiet one.
The detectives were seeking evidence and testimony of mistreatment of senior citizens.
The OIJ Twitter account described the result as the arrest of a 32-year-old woman worker at the Villa Amatista home. The preliminary finding was the detention of the home’s administrator who carries the responsibility for 30 senior citizens.
OIJ confirmed that the raid was the result of complaints by residents of the home. Most of them are confined to beds or wheelchairs. “According to information collected, the food they were given is inadequate to maintain their healthy condition,” OIJ added.
Detectives found 25 patients in the home. In one of the dormitories, they found one patient tied to the bed, with bonds of a most irregular type, said a forensic doctor who accompanied the detectives. The payment for care at the old persons’ home is 500,000 colones to 700,000 colones per month.
OIJ urged persons knowing of inadequate care of the aged to contact their section of Crimes against Physical, Integrity, Treatment and Traffic of persons interned in the facility. Detectives confiscated electronic and paper records.
Homes for the aged are difficult to manage since care is intensive and diet is often a delicate task. But hiring specialized persons, dietitians, for example, is costly.
Article by iNews.co.cr
