"Woman, 98, indicted on murder charges; Accused of killing roommate, 100, in nursing home" by David Abel and Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff | December 12, 2009
NEW BEDFORD - The oldest murder defendant in state history....
The joint motion details the relationship between the two elderly women and describes how just a short distance from a nurses’ station, Laura Lundquist, 98, was allegedly able to strangle Elizabeth Barrow, her 100-year-old roommate at the Brandon Woods Nursing Home in Dartmouth. A nursing assistant found her body at 6:20 a.m. with a bed sheet pulled over her head, about 20 minutes after staff had seen Barrow returning to her bed from the bathroom.
Lundquist told police that she was in the bathroom when Barrow died and that she heard Barrow scream. But she said she did not do anything because she was afraid she would get in trouble. Lundquist also said Barrow had “hurt her’’ and described her as a “sick woman,’’ according to the joint motion.
When a nursing aide sought to move Lundquist from the room, she denied killing Barrow. “At that time, no one had accused her of anything, nor were they aware that anyone had caused her death,’’ according to the joint motion.
Afterward, when she was placed in a different room, Lundquist observed a white plastic bag similar to the one found over Barrow’s head, and told her new roommate, “I hope I don’t have to use that.’’
In the weeks prior to her death, Barrow had said that Lundquist was making her life “a living hell,’’ prosecutors said.
Investigators initially thought Barrow had committed suicide, but the results of an autopsy found she had been the victim of “asphyxia due to strangulation and suffocation.’’
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Looks like you are in luck; budget cuts mean no more rooms:
Changes in Medicaid eligibility regulations for low-income elders and special-needs adults have forced the closing of the only adult day care program in South Boston and could potentially shutter similar programs across the state, elderly care advocates said.
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Medicaid Mess
Yeah, but we have TRILLIONS for BANKS and WARS!!
The Adult Day Health Program run by Catholic Charities’ Labouré Center, which previously received $300,000 a year from the state to provide nursing care and recreational and restorative therapies to 45 elders and adults with special needs, will close on Dec. 31, according to Sister Maryadele Robinson, director of the Labouré Center.
Need money for the elder's health?
See: Tough Love For Lawrence (and related links)
PLENTY of $$$ out there if you know where to look!
The state funds made up a large part of the center’s $540,000 budget.
Yeah, after all, it is YOUR MONEY, taxpayers!
WHERE do YOU want it to go, hmmmmm?
Because of the new state regulations, which went into effect Nov. 15 as part of an effort to cut $6 million in Medicaid spending, at least 50 percent of adult day program participants are ineligible for some basic care, according to the Massachusetts Adult Day Services Association.
That's REFORM, huh?
Many adult day care programs, such as the one at the Labouré Center, cannot afford to fund program participants without the state money, said a representative from the association.
South Boston resident Joyce Biele said her 82-year-old father has been going to the adult day care program at the Labouré Center two days a week for three years. “I work during the day, so it was a relief to send dad to a safe place,’’ she said. Biele said she has been working to find a new place for her father to go since she heard of the closing just before Thanksgiving.
Yeah, UPSET the OLD MAN''S ROUTINE!
We all know how they LOVE THAT!!!
“It blows me away that there’s no place for old people in South Boston to go,’’ she said. “At this point in people’s lives they have to be and should be taken care of.’’
If we were a DECENT COUNTRY, yeah.
The state has recently reviewed the new regulations and the impact on the services provided through MassHealth, said Jessica Kritz, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services. “We’re working with MADSA to review the regulations and make changes as needed in order to ensure that our members receive appropriate services and that providers are paid appropriately,’’ she said.
PFFFFFFTT!
So lying is a qualification for a government job, huh?
Jamie Seagle, president of Rogerson Communities, a Boston nonprofit that provides housing and health care for low-income elders, said adult day care programs provide a less expensive alternative to institutional care. “We keep very frail, physically compromised people with many chronic diseases on their feet and healthier so they can stay home and keep them from going to nursing homes, which costs the state more money,’’ he said.
Then BY ALL MEANS, CUT IT!!!
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No Festavus For Massachusetts Elderly
Massachusetts Hates Its Elders
