Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990 TAG: 9005230658
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
State regulators cited Shenandoah Acres Adult Home for failing to properly supervise the resident, failing to have adequate staff and failing "to protect the physical well-being and safety of a known wanderer."
Glen Dorothy Smith, 69, disappeared from the home May 11. Searchers combed the Mill Creek area for three days before finding Smith in woods less than a mile from the rest home. She was dehydrated and had suffered some cuts and bruises, but she escaped serious harm.
Shenandoah Acres' administrator, Debra Callahan, said Smith often roamed around the home, but had never wandered any distance away until the day before her disappearance.
On May 10, Smith left the home and walked a half-mile to a mile down U.S. 11 before two rescue squad members saw her and, with the help of a staffer, brought her back. Callahan told her staff to watch Smith closely.
Smith seemed to do well until the next evening, Callahan said.
Staffers twice found Smith just outside the home and each time persuaded her to go back inside. Then she wandered out again sometime after 6:30 p.m. She was discovered missing about 7:10 p.m.
Staffers told welfare officials that they could not watch Smith or any other resident closely because of all their other duties.
Callahan said Shenandoah Acres has not had major problems before. "We provide excellent care," she said. "I'll do everything I can to prevent this from ever happening again."
She said the home will install alarm buzzers on all outside doors and make sure that all staffers are trained to handle emergencies.
by CNB