A wife said a nursing assistant began the elder abuse by taking off her husband’s pants
The wife of an Alzheimer’s Disease patient watched in horror as a Vero Beach nursing assistant yanked off her husband’s pants, stomped on his feet then left him laying on the floor without his pants.
That’s according to the Feb. 7 Florida Department of Health emergency suspension order (ESO) on the license of Kathy Hagerty. Under “Kathleen Hagerty,” the 51-year-old was booked for battery on a person 65 years of age or older. Hagerty posted $25,000 bond and pleaded not guilty.
Hagerty had been a certified nursing assistant for 27 years when she had to tend to M.H., a 78-year-old resident of Renaissance Senior Living. Worried that the Alzheimer’s might send him on aimless sojourns, M.H.’s family put a surveillance camera in his room.
M.H.’s wife was watching that feed, the ERO said, on Oct. 26 when the ERO says she saw, “Hagerty forcefully removed patient M.H.’s pants while he asked her to stop. Ms. Hagerty then stomped on Patient M.H.’s foot while it was on the floor.
“Following a gap in the surveillance video, Patient M.H. is then seen lying on the floor with no pants on.”
When another nursing assistant inquired what happened, “Hagerty replied that there was ‘---- all over the place’ and that she had to clean Patient M.H.”
M.H.’s family spoke to Renaissance Senior Living, which fired Hagerty. She was arrested on Nov. 6.
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 3:26 PM.
