[Follow up: Assisted Living Facility Shut Down, Patients Abandoned]
Miguel Alvarez, 33 recalls being (at times) the only person caring for the abandoned residents of Valley Springs Manor last week, in his home that he shares with his mother, wife, son and step son October 31, 2013 in San Leandro, Calif. Alvarez started working as a part time janitor at Valley Springs Manor on October 7th and says he was supposed to be paid on the 25th but now he doesn't know if he will ever receive payment. Over time, Alvarez's hours became increasingly strange, sometimes he would be the only person in the building with the residents from 6pm-6am the next day. Alvarez says that he lived at the facility from last Tuesday until Saturday to make sure the residents were cared for. He missed his son's first day of school. By Thursday he was the only person bathing and caring for those who were still at the manor, though he is only trained as a janitor. "They just left them for dead," he said, "I didn't know what to do." Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle
Miguel Alvarez had never worked in a senior care home. He had never administered medications. The only reason he took the janitor job at Valley Springs Manor in early October was to save money for Christmas gifts for his children.
Yet last week, as the Castro Valley care home plunged into chaos amid a state-ordered closure, Alvarez found himself changing diapers, bathing, spoon-feeding and otherwise comforting more than a dozen seniors who had been abandoned there.
"I'm a janitor - I didn't know what I was doing. I just tried the best I could," Alvarez, 33, said Thursday at his home in San Leandro.
Our thanks and gratitude to an anonymous commentator for bringing more of this story to our attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are reviewed before posting.