The incident came to light during a family visit on July 20, 2025, when the resident was found crying and holding another family member's hand. When asked what was wrong, the resident described what had happened with a CNA who "did not work at the facility very often."
The resident said she had used her call light to request help getting to the bathroom. By the time the CNA arrived, she had already soiled her brief. "The CNA screamed that she had to clean up the resident," according to the family member's account to federal inspectors.
What followed was a pattern of rough handling that left the resident feeling "helpless." The CNA "jerked her up out of her recliner chair," causing the resident to yell that she was being hurt. When the resident protested, the CNA "pushed her back into her chair."
The rough treatment continued in the bathroom. The resident told her family the CNA "got her up out of the recliner and took her to the bathroom and then dropped her down on the toilet." When the resident again said she was being hurt, "the CNA yelled at her."
The resident, still crying while recounting the incident, tried to rationalize the abuse. She told her family "maybe the staff member was having a bad day and didn't know what she was doing."
The family member immediately sought out the charge nurse and reported what the resident had described.
But the facility's response was inadequate from the start. The director of nursing acknowledged receiving an email about the incident the following morning, which reported that "a staff member at the facility pushed, shoved and yelled at the resident." Yet despite this clear allegation of abuse, the DON took only minimal action.
The director had one staff member interview the resident about what happened. That was it.
No investigation was launched into the accused CNA's identity or actions. No other staff members were interviewed, including Staff C who was mentioned in the inspection report. Most critically, the facility failed to report the allegation to state authorities as required by federal regulations.
The DON acknowledged to inspectors that "a report was not made to the State agency regarding the resident stating she was shoved, pushed and yelled at by a staff member." She also admitted that "staff were not interviewed" and "no other steps were taken regarding the reported concerns of suspected abuse."
This failure occurred on a unit where vulnerable residents required significant assistance with basic care. Federal inspectors found that 14 of the 21 residents on the unit where the incident occurred needed help from one or more staff members for essential activities like toileting and transferring.
The facility's own policies demanded a far more comprehensive response. Story Medical Senior Care's Nursing Facility Abuse Prevention policy, revised in November 2024, explicitly requires "written procedures that prohibit abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation of resident property."
The policy mandates "prevention, identification, investigation, and timely reporting of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and misappropriation of property, without fear of recrimination or intimidation." It specifically requires the facility to "identify, through ongoing assessment, high-risk situations where abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of resident property may occur."
Most importantly, the policy states that "upon receiving a report of an allegation of resident abuse, neglect, exploitation or mistreatment, the facility shall immediately implement measures to prevent further potential abuse of residents from occurring while the facility investigation is in process."
For allegations involving an employee, the policy is clear: "this will be accomplished by separating the employee accused of abuse from all residents."
None of these required steps were taken.
The resident's description of her attacker provides clues that could have aided an investigation. She told her family the CNA was someone who "did not work at the facility very often" but "had been working over the past few days." She said the incident happened "within the last day or two" before the family visit.
These details should have made it relatively straightforward to identify the accused staff member and begin a proper investigation. Instead, the facility's leadership chose to treat a clear allegation of physical abuse as a minor incident requiring only a single follow-up conversation.
The resident's vulnerability makes the facility's inaction even more troubling. She required assistance from staff for basic needs like toileting, making her dependent on the very people who were supposed to protect her. When she used her call light for help, she received abuse instead of care.
Her emotional state during the family visit underscored the impact of what she experienced. She was found crying and had to be comforted by family members before she could even describe what happened. Even then, she tried to excuse her abuser's behavior, suggesting the CNA might have been "having a bad day."
The facility's failure to investigate also left other residents at risk. The accused CNA continued working at the facility, with access to vulnerable residents who might not have family members present to witness or report abuse.
Federal inspectors cited Story Medical Senior Care for failing to ensure residents were free from abuse and the facility had policies and procedures that prohibited abuse. The violation was classified as causing "minimal harm or potential for actual harm" to "some" residents.
But for the resident who was jerked from her chair, pushed, and dropped on a toilet while crying out in pain, the harm was far from minimal. She was left feeling "helpless" in a place that was supposed to provide her with safe, dignified care.
The resident's family member took the step that facility administrators should have taken immediately. They reported the incident and demanded accountability. The resident herself, despite her vulnerability and dependence on staff, found the courage to describe what happened to her.
The facility's leadership failed them both.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Story Medical Senior Care from 2025-11-19 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.