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Nursing assistant charged with using Brookline nursing-home resident's credit card
By adamg on Fri, 07/24/2020 - 10:15am
Brookline Police report arresting a nursing assistant at CareOne Brookline on charges she repeatedly used a resident's credit card to buy groceries, meals and other stuff for herself.
Police say detectives began an investigation in June after a family member asked the facility to look into unusual charges on the resident's statement.
Police say Katia Boutin, 47, of Quincy, used the resident's card for purchases at CVS, Trader Joe's and Village Fare Pizza in Brookline and the Stop and Shop in Quincy and the Ocean State Job Lot in Brockton, between April 28 and May 29.
Police arrested Boutin at CareOne yesterday on one count of larceny from a building, three counts of receiving a stolen credit card and 24 counts of credit-card fraud under $1,200. Police say she could face additional charges after detectives finish investigating what might be similar unusual bills at the nursing home.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Enduring problem
When families buy things for nursing home residents, they have a tendency to disappear - not always the staff, sometimes the families of roommates, too.
Although I don't understand why things like credit cards can't be in a safe in the room. Why do staff have access to this stuff at all?
Yeap
My mother worked in Nursing homes around the Boston area for 35 years. Low pay, little investment, and challenging homes doing clinical diagnosing. Unfortunately this kind of thing goes on all the time. Things disappear more frequently than you would imagine. Sometimes its the patients, but unfortunately more times than not its the staff. Not surprising.
How many people who need
How many people who need nursling-level of care can advocate for themselves like this?
By that you mean ...
Having a safe in a room is "advocating for oneself"?
Most hotel rooms have their own little safes. They don't cost much.
Keeping track of valuables,
Keeping track of valuables, accessing a safe, keeping track of financial charges, and disputing anything that looks fishy are all tasks that might seem simple to you, but may be quite difficult for some of those who require nursing home care (people with memory or cognition problems, for example). So yes, I'd consider anything to do with protecting your own valuables to be advocating for oneself.
The advocating I refer to is
The advocating I refer to is the cognitive ability to discover the theft and the will to follow up on it. Most residents, I would guess, are there because they cannot function in full capacity to live on their own and do not have family who can care for them.
Residents have drawers with
Residents have drawers with locks. Some people forget to lock up items, some are very trusting. Any items or cash missing worth over $100 has to be reported to the police, in Boston at least.
Why?
Would a patient in a nursing home have their credit card with them? Unfortunately, it is not unusual for items belonging to patients to be taken.....
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It’s possible the thief ....
.... was having a hard time getting enough to eat on her low pay. The charges look to be all for food and she didn’t surpass $1200.
That wouldn’t excuse her but it makes me think she may have been desperate rather than greedy.
No matter what the situation,
That does not excuse the staff member in question for stealing a patient's food, or clothing.
She was not accused...
.... of stealing patient’s food or clothing. So what’s your point?
You don't think nursing home
You don't think nursing home patients and their families are in desperate financial situations right now? Stealing from vulnerable people when you are in a position of power is a terrible thing to do. What if someone did that to your elderly mother who was unable to defend herself?
No wonder why the elderly don
No wonder why the elderly don't want to be placed in nursing homes. But I want to have faith that there are more good caring caregivers than bad 8n this world.