Thursday, September 4, 2008
By BETH SHAYNE / NewsChannel 36
By BETH SHAYNE / NewsChannel 36
E-mail Beth: BShayne@WCNC.com
FALLSTON, N.C.-- Crews in Cleveland County are searching for a patient of an assisted living facility, missing since Wednesday morning.
The State Bureau of Investigation joined the search Wednesday. Mouy Tang was last seen at Unique Living in Fallston before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was spotted walking near the Philadelphia Road home later in the morning, and hasn’t been seen since.
A helicopter search turned up nothing Wednesday. Crews on ATVs and on foot searched Thursday. Cadaver dogs also joined in late in the day.
Tang is 45 and a native of Cambodia. She is diabetic and hasn’t had medicine since Wednesday morning. It’s feared she hasn’t eaten. She is also schizophrenic. Her English is poor at best.
She’s lived at Unique Living for at least 15 years, and we’re told she has help even navigating the dining room there.
For search crews from Cleveland County, the task of finding Tang must feel like déjà vu. Unique Living has a history of missing patients. One incident turned tragic. In 2006, Kelly “Buck” Whitesides was found dead six days after he went missing from the assisted living facility.
The county’s social services director John Wasson blames the way the home is licensed.
Mentally ill patients like Tang make up most of the residents but Unique Living is technically an assisted living facility.
“Basically, you have an unlicensed mental hospital in the middle of Fallston, North Carolina,” Wasson said.
After years of incidents, including two other accidental deaths, Wasson wrote the state in a letter dated June 20, 2008. He asked that the state regulatory board suspend admissions for Unique Living while they put a Temporary Manager in charge.
The letter cites a long list of complaints against Unique Living, including charges of verbal abuse from staff, a lack of locks, and a water shut-off that left the facility without water for hours on several occasions.
New management, the letter says, is not solving the problem.
It says, “Given past history, it is only a matter of time before a resident or residents are injured or harmed in some way as a direct result of the apparent mismanagement of this troubled facility.”
Wasson says, “Basically, they’ve ignored our letter…and I feel the [state agency] has defaulted on its responsibility.”
Officials from the state visited in July. Their report notes dirty mattresses and pillows, and broken or non-existence alarms on exit doors. Their acting director of Health Service Regulation tells NewsChannel 36 that the problems did not rise to the level that would warrant a state takeover.
FALLSTON, N.C.-- Crews in Cleveland County are searching for a patient of an assisted living facility, missing since Wednesday morning.
The State Bureau of Investigation joined the search Wednesday. Mouy Tang was last seen at Unique Living in Fallston before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She was spotted walking near the Philadelphia Road home later in the morning, and hasn’t been seen since.
A helicopter search turned up nothing Wednesday. Crews on ATVs and on foot searched Thursday. Cadaver dogs also joined in late in the day.
Tang is 45 and a native of Cambodia. She is diabetic and hasn’t had medicine since Wednesday morning. It’s feared she hasn’t eaten. She is also schizophrenic. Her English is poor at best.
She’s lived at Unique Living for at least 15 years, and we’re told she has help even navigating the dining room there.
For search crews from Cleveland County, the task of finding Tang must feel like déjà vu. Unique Living has a history of missing patients. One incident turned tragic. In 2006, Kelly “Buck” Whitesides was found dead six days after he went missing from the assisted living facility.
The county’s social services director John Wasson blames the way the home is licensed.
Mentally ill patients like Tang make up most of the residents but Unique Living is technically an assisted living facility.
“Basically, you have an unlicensed mental hospital in the middle of Fallston, North Carolina,” Wasson said.
After years of incidents, including two other accidental deaths, Wasson wrote the state in a letter dated June 20, 2008. He asked that the state regulatory board suspend admissions for Unique Living while they put a Temporary Manager in charge.
The letter cites a long list of complaints against Unique Living, including charges of verbal abuse from staff, a lack of locks, and a water shut-off that left the facility without water for hours on several occasions.
New management, the letter says, is not solving the problem.
It says, “Given past history, it is only a matter of time before a resident or residents are injured or harmed in some way as a direct result of the apparent mismanagement of this troubled facility.”
Wasson says, “Basically, they’ve ignored our letter…and I feel the [state agency] has defaulted on its responsibility.”
Officials from the state visited in July. Their report notes dirty mattresses and pillows, and broken or non-existence alarms on exit doors. Their acting director of Health Service Regulation tells NewsChannel 36 that the problems did not rise to the level that would warrant a state takeover.
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