The Abbey at Westminster Plaza

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76 Reviews

• (25)

  A Place For Mom

• (25)

  SeniorAdvisor.com

Our father was a resident at The Abbey’s Assisted Living until he died after contracting Covid at the facility. The Abbey, under the direction of their Wellness Director [name removed], committed highly dangerous errors with his medication. [name removed] is The Abbey’s most senior medical professional and she’s not a Registered Nurse but rather a Licensed Vocational Nurse. According to the Nurse Registry, “working as a Licensed Vocational Nurse requires doing so under the supervision of either a doctor or Registered Nurse.” To our knowledge, there is no Registered Nurse or doctor on staff at The Abbey. [name removed] reports to Assisted Living Manager [name removed]. A hospice nurse (an RN) from an outside agency who cared for Dad discovered that he was being overdosed with opioids, receiving 3 times his prescribed dose. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent". She brought the overdose to [name removed] attention and was ignored, so she alerted [name removed] and was again ignored. Ironically, the med aide was placed on suspension, however [name removed] and [name removed] are still serving as Wellness Director and Assisted Living Manager. This is from an email from [name removed], Executive Director regarding the incident: “The med aid was a long-term employee who was consequently counseled and suspended during the investigation, after which time she decided to leave to pursue her nursing degree after feeling she was wrongfully accused.” Dad was not only overdosed with opioids; he was also overdosed with antidepressants/sedatives. The hospice doctor prescribed him Trazodone in a 50 mg dose. [name removed] filled the prescription for double the amount -100 mg for over 6 months until again, the error was discovered by an outside party, the hospice nurse. She called the Hospice Agency and told them that she’d no longer give them business from The Abbey unless our hospice nurse was removed. There are supposed to be legal protections in place for “whistleblowers” so that dangerous, unethical and criminal behavior can be exposed without fear. Such was not the case for our hospice nurse. She was extremely good to Dad and losing her broke his heart. We would have moved him, but he was too frail and a few months later he contracted Covid and died. (the hospice nurse said she witnessed medication errors with other residents as well). So one must wonder, were the medication errors a result of gross incompetence and negligence, or intentional because an over drugged resident was easier to deal with? The issue was also brought to the attention of [name removed], Regional Director of the company that owns The Abbey, who reports directly to owner [name removed] of Tyler, Texas. We have reported The Abbey to The Texas Department Of Health and Human Services which is the state agency which governs nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Based on our report, [name removed] is under investigation by The Texas Board of Nursing.

Our family member has been at the Abbey for nearly 5 years and did not become a resident willingly. She was not able to take care of her daily living needs and staying at home with very little interaction or opportunity for socializing was not an option. She did resist and made us feel miserable for leaving her. However, the staff tuned into her and were able to find activities which peaked her curiosity and with a little encouragement she became an active participant. The staff looks at the individual and works with them to develop activities where they can feel special and excel at their level. Now she loves the staff, they have become like family. When we go to visit it is as if we are interrupting her schedule. It's all in timing. She tells us she loves the food and the people there are so nice to her and she doesn't have to worry about anything. To be so lucky.

The Abbey at Westminster Plaza is a warm and caring facility with compassionate staff members who truly go the extra mile to make sure that your loved one has the very best of care. My father has been a resident for the past 4+ years and has transitioned from independent living to assisted living to memory care. The Abbey staff has been phenomenal in helping my family with each step of the journey.