Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509300002
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Earlier this year, the home was the subject of several complaints from residents and their family members about inadequate staffing. Some residents reported being left unattended for hours after calling for assistance.
Under the terms of the new one-year contract, Diversified Health Services must put up a $500,000 performance bond.
In case of breach of contract, the bond would fund replacement staffing until a new management company could be found. The contract also stipulates that Diversified must make efforts to improve employee morale and add an assistant administrator.
"We're concerned about [employee morale] because the home has obviously gone through some turmoil, and that has an impact on our residents," said Daniel Karnes, who was elected to a one-year term as the board's chairman Friday.
Karnes, a clinical social worker for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem, will replace Walter Sanford, a real estate broker from Alexandria who has been chairman since the board formed in 1990.
Diversified's three-year contract with the board, which expires next month, provided for two renewal options for one year each.
In other business, the board:
Approved placing a plaque about Alice Fielden in the hall where she lived at the center. Fielden, who died in February at 96, was one of 100 Virginia women who served in the military during World War I.
Introduced the center's new executive director, Andrew Vinson. Formerly assistant director of state-owned Catawba Hospital, Vinson takes over Monday from John Radick, acting executive director since June, who will return to his job at Central State Training Center.
by CNB