Caught On Camera: Nursing Home Staff Laughed While Veteran Died

Hidden camera tells true story of how veteran died after calling for help, gasping for air

The video shows the decorated World War II veteran calling for help six times before he goes unconscious while gasping for air.

10 News

Andy Pierrotti

November 14, 2017

An 11Alive investigation uncovered hidden camera video catching nursing home staff laughing while an elderly patient dies in front of them. The incident happened at the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation in 2014, but the video was recently released as part of a lawsuit filed by the family.

Attorneys representing the Atlanta nursing home tried to prevent 11Alive from obtaining the video. 

They asked a DeKalb County judge to keep the video sealed and then attempted to appeal to the Georgia State Supreme Court. The judge ruled in favor of 11Alive and the nursing home eventually dropped its appeal to the state’s highest court.

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VA Offers Beds to Non-Veteran Nursing Home Residents Hit By Irma

VA to make beds available where possible to non-Veteran nursing home residents affected by Hurricane Irma
News Release

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David J. Shulkin announced that VA is making beds available where possible to non-Veteran nursing home residents affected by Hurricane Irma.

Secretary Shulkin has been working with Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson and their staffs on this issue beginning yesterday evening.

“We thank Governor Scott and Senator Nelson for involving VA, and are grateful we can help our fellow citizens where we can in this time of need,” Secretary Shulkin said. “All Americans are pulling together to help one another, and we must make a special effort for those most vulnerable to the conditions brought on by the storm.”

VA has the ability to make its facilities available to non-Veterans as part of its fourth mission to support national, state and local emergency management, public health, safety and homeland security efforts, and also through a mission assignment under the Stafford Act.

Secretary Shulkin agreed, where practical, to make beds that are not being used by Veterans available to non-Veteran nursing home residents as needed, while ensuring VA continues its primary mission of providing health care to Veterans.

The VA is also working closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local partners on the overall response to Irma, in addition to this specific issue.

“We will continue to look for ways to relieve the hardship this powerful storm has caused,” Secretary Shulkin said. “Much of the heavy lifting to recover from the hurricane is still to come, and our leaders and staff are determined to find as many ways as we can for VA to help in coordination with federal, state and local agencies in the response.”

More information on the VA’s response to Hurricanes Irma and Harvey can be found at https://www.va.gov/.

Canadian Couple Heartbroken, Separated After 62 Years of Marriage

The Heartbreaking Story Behind Photo of Elderly Couple Crying
ABC News
By AVIANNE TAN
Aug 25, 2016

An elderly couple from the town of Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, was recently photographed crying after apparently being moved to separate nursing homes a few months ago.

Anita Gottschalk, 81, and Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, have been heartbroken since they've been forced to live in separate nursing homes, according to their 29-year-old granddaughter Ashley Bartyik.

The emotional photo was taken Monday during a visit between the couple. Ashley Bartyik, the couple's granddaughter, told ABC News today she's worried that their "heartbreak and the stress could literally kill them."

"This is the saddest photo I have ever taken," Bartyik, 29, wrote in the photo's caption. It has been shared nearly 3,000 times on Facebook.

She explained that after 62 years of marriage, her grandparents have been separated for eight months "due to backlogs and delays by our heath care system."
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