No charges against adult center staffer who refused to do CPR

Bakersfield police have closed an investigation into a senior living facility where a staff member refused to perform CPR on an elderly woman who later died, and say no criminal charges will be pursued.

Police began their probe Monday into Glenwood Gardens, where a woman who identified herself as a nurse refused to administer CPR to a woman as directed by a fire dispatcher. Police were trying to "determine if there were any criminal violations ... pertaining to the death" of 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless on Feb. 26, the department said in a statement.

The department concluded that no criminal statutes had been violated and closed the case Wednesday. The Bakersfield Police Department said it will not be pursuing any criminal charges pertaining to the case.

Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living, which owns Glenwood Gardens, said in a statement that the staff member is on voluntary leave while an internal investigation into the incident is conducted.

The staff member said it was against the facility's policy for her to perform CPR, according to a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department. Initially, Glenwood Gardens said the staff member followed protocol.

"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Jeffrey Toomer, executive director of Glenwood Gardens, said in a statement.

"That is the protocol we followed," he said. "As with any incident involving a resident, we will conduct a thorough internal review of this matter."

The parent company, however, released a statement Tuesday saying that the staff member handled the situation incorrectly.

"This incident resulted from a complete misunderstanding of our practice with regards to emergency medical care for our residents," Brookdale Senior Living said in a statement. The company declined, however, to spell out what that misunderstanding was.

Bayless' family said in a statement to the Associated Press that they do not plan to sue Glenwood Gardens. Family members said they regret that "this private and personal time has been escalated by the media."

"Our family knows that Mom had full knowledge of the limitations of Glenwood Gardens and is at peace," the family's statement read.

The Bakersfield property has multiple buildings with different state licenses. One is licensed by the state Department of Public Health as a skilled nursing facility and is able to provide medical care. Another is licensed by the Department of Social Services as an assisted living facility, which does not provide medical care but assists residents with daily tasks.

Another portion of Glenwood Gardens is an independent living facility, which is not licensed by the state, does not provide medical care and operates like an apartment complex for senior citizens. Glenwood Gardens officials have said Bayless lived in that building.

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Photo: A man walks near the main gate of Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield. Credit: Gosia Wozniacka / Associated Press

Family: Woman at care center did not want life-prolonging measures

The 87-year-old woman who died after a staff member at a Bakersfield senior living facility refused to perform CPR last week did not want life-prolonging intervention, her family said Tuesday.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the family of Lorraine Bayless said they do not plan to sue the facility, Glenwood Gardens.

A Glenwood Gardens staff member who identified herself as a nurse refused to give Bayless CPR as directed by a Bakersfield fire dispatcher, saying it was against the facility’s policy for staff to do so, according to a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department. Bayless died Feb. 26.

Family members said they regret that “this private and personal time has been escalated by the media,” according to the Associated Press. The 911 tape, in which Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleads with the staff member to begin CPR, has garnered widespread attention.

“We understand that the 911 tape of this event has caused concern, but our family knows that mom had full knowledge of the limitations of Glenwood Gardens and is at peace,” the family’s statement read.

An incident report from the Fire Department states, “The facility was refusing to initiate CPR.” Bayless was on the dining room floor, not breathing, and had no pulse by the time paramedics arrived, according to the report. A do-not-resuscitate order was not present in Bayless’ paperwork, the report states.

Family backs adult care center that refused CPR to dying woman

The family of an 87-year-old woman who died after a staff member at a Bakersfield nursing home refused to perform CPR last week backed the decision and said they do not plan to sue the facility.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the family said the woman did not want life-prolonging intervention at the home.

"We understand that the 911 tape of this event has caused concern, but our family knows that mom had full knowledge of the limitations of Glenwood Gardens and is at peace," the statement read.

The staff member, who identified herself as a nurse at Glenwood Gardens refused to give the elderly woman CPR as directed by a Bakersfield fire dispatcher, saying that it was against the facility's policy for staff to do so, according to a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department.

The Bakersfield Police Department began a formal investigation of the facility Monday, said  Sgt. Jason Matson. Two detectives have been assigned to the case, he said.

"Nobody had come forward with any type of formal complaint," Matson said. "We monitored it ... as more evidence came forward, we just wanted to ensure that there's no criminal wrongdoing," he said.

Police are looking at the case "from different angles," Matson said. Michaela Beard, a spokeswoman for the department, said police are trying to determine whether negligence, abuse or other factors could have been involved in Glenwood Gardens' handling of the woman.

The elderly woman was identified in a Bakersfield Fire Department incident report as Lorraine Bayless. She died Feb. 26 at Mercy Southwest Hospital, KGET-TV (Channel 17) reported.

No prior complaints about senior facility where staffer refused CPR

Bakersfield police had received no complaints about a senior living facility before an 87-year-old woman died after a staff member refused to perform CPR last week, authorities said.

The staff member, who identified herself as a nurse, at Glenwood Gardens refused to give the elderly woman CPR as directed by a Bakersfield fire dispatcher, saying that it was against the facility's policy for staff to do so, according to a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department.

The Bakersfield Police Department began a formal investigation of the facility Monday, said  Sgt. Jason Matson. Two detectives have been assigned to the case, he said.

"Nobody had come forward with any type of formal complaint," Matson said. "We monitored it ... as more evidence came forward, we just wanted to ensure that there's no criminal wrongdoing," he said.

Police are looking at the case "from different angles," Matson said. Michaela Beard, a spokeswoman for the department, said police are trying to determine whether negligence, abuse or other factors could have been involved in Glenwood Gardens' handling of the woman.

The elderly woman was identified in a Bakersfield Fire Department incident report as Lorraine Bayless. She died Feb. 26 at Mercy Southwest Hospital, KGET-TV Channel 17 reported.

The incident report states, "The facility was refusing to initiate CPR."

Bayless was lying on the dining room floor, not breathing, and had no pulse by the time paramedics arrived, according to the report. A do-not-resuscitate order was not present in Bayless' paperwork, the report states.

Before an ambulance arrived, Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson for several minutes begged the staff member to begin CPR, saying something had to be done before an ambulance arrived because the woman was not breathing enough.

The staff member repeatedly refused, saying it was against the facility's policy for her to perform CPR. The staff member was "serving in the capacity of a resident services director, not as a nurse," said Christopher Finn, a spokesman for Brookdale Senior Living, which owns Glenwood Gardens.

Finn would not comment on whether she was licensed as a nurse.

Glenwood Gardens "is an independent living facility," which by law is not licensed to provide medical care to any of its residents," Finn said in a statement.

Jeffrey Toomer, the executive director of Glenwood Gardens, said the staff member followed the facility's policies.

"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Toomer said in a statement.

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911 dispatcher to nurse who wouldn't do CPR: 'She's going to die'

A fire dispatcher unsuccessfully pleaded with a nurse to start CPR on an elderly woman who was barely breathing.

"It's a human being," Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson said. "Is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?"

The woman paused.

"Um, not at this time."

According to a recording of the 911 exchange last week released by the Bakersfield Fire Department, the woman told Halvorson that she was a nurse at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield. But the nurse refused to give the woman CPR as directed by the dispatcher, saying it was against the facility's policy for staff to do so, according to the tape.

The elderly woman was identified by KGET-TV Channel 17 as 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless. She died Tuesday at Mercy Southwest Hospital, the station reported.

Jeffrey Toomer, executive director of Glenwood Gardens, issued a statement on behalf of the facility, extending his sympathies to the Bayless family. But Toomer also defended the nurse, saying she followed policy.

"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," he said. "That is the protocol we followed. As with any incident involving a resident, we will conduct a thorough internal review of this matter, but we have no further comments at this time."

For the next several minutes, Halvorson begged the nurse to begin CPR, saying something had to be done before an ambulance arrived.

After the nurse repeatedly refused, Halvorson asked her to find a passerby or anyone who would be willing to help. Halvorson said she would talk someone through performing CPR.

"I understand if your facility is not willing to do that," Halvorson told the nurse. "Give the phone to that passerby, that stranger … this woman's not breathing enough. ... She's going to die if we don't get this started. ... I don't understand why you're not willing to help this patient."

The nurse could be heard talking to someone else at the facility.

"She's yelling at me," she said of Halvorson, "and saying we have to have one of our residents perform CPR. I'm feeling stressed, and I'm not going to do that, make that call."

When Halvorson asked the nurse if she was going to let the woman die, the nurse said, "That's why we called 911."

After a few minutes, the nurse said the ambulance had arrived. The tape ended with Halvorson sighing.

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Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris wants funding for prescription database

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris is urging lawmakers to fund improvements to a state database system that could help identify physicians who recklessly prescribe prescription drugs.

In an interview with The Times, Harris said she wanted to use the state database, known as CURES, to draw a bead on doctors who abuse their prescribing powers. The controversial step has been discussed for years, but never adopted.

Harris, whose office operates CURES, called for upgrading the database and establishing two criminal enforcement teams to investigate suspicious patterns of prescribing. State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) have introduced legislation to carry out the changes, which would cost an estimated $9.6 million.

Under the proposal, CURES would automatically alert authorities to prescribing that appears "questionable or excessive" so "we can look into it," Harris told The Times. Doctors who write large numbers of prescriptions for narcotic painkillers, for instance, or for drug combinations popular among addicts could come under scrutiny.

"Any legislator who questions the relevance or necessity of this should check with their local police chief," Harris said. "They'll tell them what's going on on the street."

CURES, diminished by years of budget cuts, is now used mostly to identify "doctor-shopping" addicts, who feed their habit by obtaining multiple prescriptions from different doctors. Even that type of identification is done on a very limited basis because of the system's technical shortcomings and bare-bones budget.

Harris, a career prosecutor who was elected attorney general in 2010, has been outspoken on issues such as guns, gangs and gay marriage but comparatively quiet on the state's prescription drug abuse problem.

A Times article published in December showed how the state's failure to tap information in CURES had allowed incompetent or corrupt doctors to overprescribe narcotics for years before authorities learned about their conduct through other means.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged states to use prescription monitoring programs to look for signs of reckless behavior by doctors, and at least six states do.

CURES — formally the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System — contains detailed information from pharmacies on the prescriptions they fill, including the names of patients and their doctors. The system has existed in various forms since 1939 and was once a model for other states.

Currently, it is "on life support," in the words of a Harris aide. It has a budget of $400,000 a year and is overseen by a single employee in the attorney general's office.

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Senior facility defends nurse who wouldn't perform CPR on resident

The executive director of a senior living facility in Bakersfield defended its policies that apparently prohibited a nurse last week from giving CPR to an elderly woman who was said to be barely breathing and later died.

“In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives,” Jeffrey Toomer, director of the facility, said in a statement on behalf of Glenwood Gardens.

“That is the protocol we followed," he said. "As with any incident involving a resident, we will conduct a thorough internal review of this matter, but we have no further comments at this time.”

Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleaded with the nurse on the phone, begging her to start CPR on the elderly resident, according to the 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department.

“It’s a human being,” Halvorson said, speaking quickly.

“Is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”

The woman paused.

“Um, not at this time.”

The nurse refused to give the woman CPR, saying it was against the facility’s policy for staff to do so, according to the tape.

The elderly woman was identified by KGET-TV as 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless. She died Tuesday at Mercy Hospital Southwest, KGET reported.

On the tape, a different Glenwood Gardens employee said that an elderly woman had passed out in the facility’s dining room while eating and was barely breathing.

For several minutes, Halvorson begged the nurse to begin CPR, saying something had to be done before an ambulance arrived.

After the nurse repeatedly refused, Halvorson asked her to find a passerby or anyone who would be willing to help. Halvorson said she would talk someone through performing CPR.

“I understand if your facility is not willing to do that,” Halvorson told the nurse. “Give the phone to that passerby, that stranger. … This woman’s not breathing enough.

“She’s going to die if we don’t get this started. … I don’t understand why you’re not willing to help this patient.”

Memorial planned for animals used in laboratory experiments

Animal rights activists said they planned to hold a memorial Saturday evening for hundreds of animals they said were  “tortured and killed”  in cruel laboratory experiments conducted at UCLA.

According to  event organizers  almost 1,000 animals were used in laboratory tests at UCLA in 2010. These included rabbits, pigs, guinea pigs, primates, dogs, chinchillas, cats, the animal advocates said citing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

“The University of California and the federal government waste millions of tax-payer dollars on needless animal experimentation that is not improving human health or quality of life when students can’t afford to graduate from the (UCLA),"  the organizers said in a statement.

Nurse refused to give CPR to elderly woman who later died [updated]

Bakersfield fire dispatcher Tracey Halvorson pleaded with the woman on the other end of the line, begging her to start CPR on an elderly woman who was barely breathing.

“It’s a human being,” Halvorson said, speaking quickly. “Is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”

The woman paused.

“Um, not at this time.”

On a 911 tape released by the Bakersfield Fire Department, the woman on the other end of the line told Halvorson that she was a nurse at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield. But on Tuesday, the nurse refused to give the woman CPR, saying it was against the facility’s policy for staff to do so, according to the tape.

The elderly woman was identified by KGET-TV (Channel 17) as 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless. She died Tuesday at Mercy Hospital Southwest, KGET reported.

In the tape, a different Glenwood Gardens employee said that an elderly woman had passed out in the facility’s dining room while eating. She was barely breathing.

For several minutes, Halvorson begged the nurse to begin CPR, saying something had to be done before an ambulance arrived.

After the nurse repeatedly refused, Halvorson asked her to find a passerby or anyone who would be willing to help. Halvorson said she would talk someone through performing CPR.

“I understand if your facility is not willing to do that,” Halvorson told the nurse. “Give the phone to that passerby, that stranger…this woman’s not breathing enough.

“She’s going to die if we don’t get this started.… I don’t understand why you’re not willing to help this patient.”

The nurse could be heard talking to someone else at the facility.

“She’s yelling at me,” she said of Halvorson, “and saying we have to have one of our residents perform CPR. I’m feeling stressed, and I’m not going to do that, make that call.”

When Halvorson asked the nurse if she was going to let the woman die, the nurse said, “That’s why we called 911.”

After a few minutes, the nurse said the ambulance had arrived. The tape ended with Halvorson sighing.

The facility’s executive director, Jeffrey Toomer, sent a statement on behalf of Glenwood Gardens to KGET, the station reported.

“In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives,” the statement said, according to KGET.

Bakersfield Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Galagaza said Halvorson followed protocol and that dispatchers give CPR instructions over the phone numerous times each year.

Bayless' daughter told KGET that she was a nurse and was satisfied with her mother's care at Glenwood Gardens, the station reported.

[Updated, 4:30 p.m.: KGET-TV said the patient did not have a do-not-resucitate order.]

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L.A. asks U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on skid row injunction

Citing an immediate public health threat, the city of Los Angeles will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn a lower court ruling preventing the random seizure and destruction of belongings that homeless people leave temporarily unattended on public sidewalks.

If the court takes up the matter, the case could have broad implications for cities nationwide grappling with how to keep streets clean and safe while respecting the property rights of those who live there.

The Supreme Court filing comes after two years of legal wrangling between Los Angeles officials and homeless advocates over a controversial campaign to clean up downtown’s skid row, which has the highest concentration of homeless people in the city.

“We have an obligation to the homeless, as well as to the other residents and businesses on skid row, to ensure their health through regularly cleaning skid row’s streets and sidewalks,” City Atty. Carmen Trutanich said in a statement. “The current outbreak of tuberculosis among that most vulnerable population should serve as a stern reminder to us all of just who and what is at risk in this matter.”

Carol Sobel, who represents the homeless plaintiffs in the case, said the outbreak, which has infected nearly 80 people and killed 11, has nothing to do with the property left on the streets. She accused city officials of deliberately allowing conditions to deteriorate in order to bolster their case, saying: “They have a public health issue of their making.”

The dispute began when eight homeless people accused city workers, accompanied by police, of seizing and destroying property they left unattended while they used a restroom, filled water jugs or appeared in court. The men and a woman had left their possessions -- including identification documents, medications, cellphones and toiletries -- in carts provided by social service groups and in some cases were prevented from retrieving them, Sobel said.

In a 2-1 decision in September, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the belongings that homeless people leave on city sidewalks for a short period of time may be taken only if the possessions pose an immediate threat to public health or safety or constitute evidence of a crime. In such cases, the court said, the city may not summarily destroy the possessions and must notify the owners where they can collect them.

City attorneys question whether the 4th Amendment protection from unlawful seizures and the 14th Amendment guarantee of due process extend to people who violate a city ordinance requiring them to remove their possessions during posted cleanup times, especially when free storage is available at a warehouse operated by a local business improvement district.

They say the decision, which upheld an injunction against Los Angeles, has created a “public health disaster.” Homeless residents are leaving piles of possessions on the ground or in overflowing shopping carts, often covered by tarps and blankets, and sometimes with a note attached saying “not abandoned” or “mine,” according to a draft of the filing reviewed by The Times.

Although it may be a long shot,  Stan Goldman, a Loyola Law School professor, said the Supreme Court could decide to weigh in on how to strike the balance between a city's responsibility to promote public safety and its obligation to respect the rights of the homeless.

“It is true that you can’t just search the belongings of anyone who is just walking down the street or sitting on the sidewalk,” Goldman said. “But on the other hand, for generations, the court has given the government broad leeway to use its powers to search and seize in non-criminal cases, when there is a reasonable belief there is a hazard or threat to public safety. That applies to wiring in buildings, quarantining people who have communicable diseases or even hoarders accumulating piles of garbage in their backyards.”

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