Woman claims her elderly mother was abused at local nursing home

Warminster, Pa. (WTXF) - The caregiver of an elderly woman with dementia reached out to FOX 29 asking us to take a hard look at the injuries her mother suffered. She says the injuries happened at a local nursing home.

75-year-old Lydia Barretto suffers from dementia. She's steady on her feet and can take part in basic games, but can't talk and needs 24-hour care, 7 days a week. It's an exhausting task says her daughter.

"Stressful at times, but it's OK I guess because I have her," Lillian Feneque told FOX 29.

On August 12th, Feneque says she dropped her mom off for a short stay at the Majestic Oaks Nursing Center in Warminster while she traveled to Baltimore. On the 14th., Feneque says she got a call from the center reporting her mother had fallen but was not injured

"Just calling you to let you know your mother fell. She's fine don't worry about it. She's OK. She's fine," Feneque said.

FOX 29's Jeff Cole asked, "Did they tell you she had bruising?" Feneque responded, "Said nothing." Cole asked, "Bump on the head?" Feneque responded, "Nothing." Cole asked "Nothing at all?" Feneque said, "Nothing at all."

She says it wasn't until she alerted Majestic Oaks she was coming for a visit on August 18th--four days after the fall--they called to say there were bruises. Feneque says she rushed over.

"Didn't see my mother that's for sure all I saw was a black eye, her face was bruised, her hands were horrible," Feneque said.

Pictures taken by Feneque do show dark, bruising around her mother's eye, the side of her face and the hands.

Internal nursing center documents obtained by Feneque and given to FOX 29 report Barretto fell "head first" between the "back of a chair and a chair rail" on the third floor. It's also revealed Feneque was first told there were no injuries, but a nurse "failed" to call her back when the bruising began to appear.

In a statement, a Majestic Oaks' executive writes: the center does "thorough investigations" of all complaints of possible abuse. Writing, in this case, an investigation found: "..no evidence to support or suggest that abuse, mistreatment or neglect occurred.

On Wednesday, that executive declined to answer questions and FOX 29 was told to leave the property.

Feneque believes her elderly mother was abused. She argues a bruise on her chest and bruising to the back of a knee are proof she was pushed to the floor and then stepped on.

"They got people in there that shouldn't be working there. They don't have the patience for patents like my mother--people with dementia because obviously she didn't fall," Feneque said.

Feneque says the nursing home did not take her mother to the hospital. She did.

Warminster police say they've sent a report and pictures to the county Department of Aging. The chief says there's no video, no witnesses and the elderly woman can't talk making it a tough case. They're asking for a call if you know something.