MONTICELLO – Discussions on the Adult Care Center at Sunset Lake in Liberty have continued to occur at the County Legislature meeting on Thursday, February 8, however, District 5 Legislator Cat Scott said that, for the second month in a row, she had reached out to the Director of Nursing at the Care Center with little success.

She said that last month, she was “politely declined” and this month she was “ignored completely.” Scott also said, that according to the rules of the Legislature, the Health and Human Services Committee has oversight of the division, which includes the Adult Care Center. 

Health and Human Services Commissioner John Liddle provided an updated census number for the Care Center, which he said had not been updated in a while. Liddle said that the updated census provided to him from the beginning of February was 117 residents. 

“At this point in time, I don’t feel like there is any oversight that is occurring,” Scott said, “which I find highly problematic because there have been issues. Without having someone here to ask questions to, I don’t think it’s fair to ask the commissioner questions that he doesn’t know the answer to. That’s why I would like the administrator here to answer questions.”

Scott said that when the Legislature had a working session with the council of Infinite Care including CEO, Sol Klein, and their Regional Director of Operations, Katie Earl Perez, they said they don’t want to come to the meetings because they don’t want to be “bashed” or for any accusations to arise. According to Scott, the council of Infinite Care said that they don’t have to make their employees come to the meetings. 

The Democrat offered further comment from the Care Center, which was declined. 

Being that the Administrator of the Care Center is a county employee and also reports to Infinite Care, the Health and Human Services Committee could not discuss the concerns of them not going to the meetings without going into executive session. 

Scott also referenced other concerns and issues that have risen from the Care Center, including there not being a podiatrist at the facility “for several months” which she said has led to many residents having foot pain gone without care. She also said that staffing continues to be an issue, referencing an instance where one CNA and one nurse were on duty from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. in Unit 3, where there are 38 residents. 

“How does one CNA take care of 38 people?” she asked. 

Scott said that there are people not getting out of bed or getting dressed and beds in Unit 3 were not made. She also mentioned that people were not getting changed into clothes to sleep in, as they were sleeping in what they had worn all day. 

“This is a dignity issue, this is their home,” she said. “These people have physical difficulties in taking care of themselves and this is why they are in this facility.”

Scott was warned by her fellow Legislators and Liddle to be careful when discussing personal matters in the Care Center, and they would have to discuss anything further with council in executive session. 

“I do think there is a legitimate concern that we need to be cognitive of,” Liddle said, “which is the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rights of the individuals.”