Minister Accused of Running Illegal Senior Care Center

Prosecutors filed criminal charges Monday against a minister and one of his church members, accusing them of operating an unlicensed senior care facility in South-Central Los Angeles and neglecting the center’s elderly residents.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office alleges that, among other violations, the facility took in a man partially paralyzed by AIDS and several mentally disabled residents without providing trained employees to care for them. Prosecutors contend that, during one inspection, the only employee overseeing residents was a developmentally disabled woman.

But the minister, James Lee Hill, 60, of the Los Angeles Church of God on West 73rd Street, denied the charges, saying that he and Cynthia Marie O’Steen, 42, have simply been providing shelter and food for the city’s sick and homeless.

“I have done no harm to no one,” Hill said. “I have only extended my help to those that need me. Is it better for us to leave these people laying in the streets like dogs?”

Hill and O’Steen are scheduled to be arraigned next month on five counts of elder abuse and one count of illegally operating an unlicensed residential facility. If found guilty, they each face a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The charges come on the same day that a Congressional report said that residents in nearly one in five nursing homes in Los Angeles County are beset by such problems as unsanitary conditions, untreated bedsores and improper use of restraints.

According to the report by the House Government Operations Committee, 83 of the county’s 439 nursing homes, or 19%, were found to have major health and safety violations.

The criminal charges against Hill and O’Steen stem from an investigation by the state Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division.

State inspectors said Hill and O’Steen applied for a senior care license in August 1997. A year later, the license had still not been approved, but inspectors said they visited the facility and found a man who was partially paralyzed due to the effects of AIDS. At the time, inspectors said the only employee at the facility was a developmentally disabled woman.

The state agency denied Hill and O’Steen a license Sept. 15, 1998, saying the facility--operated out of two adjacent single-family homes--had poor food service, problems with dispensing medication and a lack of proper supervision and emergency transportation. The facility operates under the name Philip’s Guest Home and is adjacent to Hill’s church.

Inspectors said they returned to the facility in December 1998 and found four nonambulatory elderly people suffering from dementia and no trained staff to evacuate the residents in case of a fire or other emergency.

State Inspector Tom Donohue said the center violated the law by taking in senior citizens who need special care and supervision without having a license or properly trained staff on hand.

Hill conceded that the facility had some problems early on. He said facility employees tied a demented elderly man to a chair to keep him from aimlessly wandering the streets. In addition, he said facility workers had trouble cleaning up after a resident who had a bladder control problem.

But Hill said those problems were corrected and the elderly residents were moved to a licensed facility after the state license was denied. Since then, Hill and O’Steen said the facility has been run only as a room-and-board for the area’s poor and homeless, for which the owners do not need a state license.

Hill said he normally charges $550 per month but waives the fee for those who are down on their luck.

“We are being made out as criminals because we extend ourselves to help people,” he said as he gave a tour of the facility.

As for the man with AIDS, Hill said the man was only at the center temporarily while Hill tried to locate a medical care facility for him. Hill denied having a developmentally disabled person on staff.

Donohue declined to identify the source of the complaints but said all the violations have been verified by state inspectors.

Several residents of the facility--some young men, others senior citizens--said they have been treated well and have not seen anyone neglected.

“This is a lovely place,” said Delores Carlson, 66, who moved to the facility from a licensed nursing home several weeks ago. “It’s exactly what I need.”

The residents said they are willing to testify in court in defense of Hill and O’Steen.

“None of those allegations are true,” said Christopher Lee, who has lived at the facility for about a week. “That is just slander.”

Hill said the room-and-board facilities have been used by his church for nearly 20 years to provide shelter for pregnant teenagers, wayward gang members and the homeless. He said he and O’Steen decided to apply for a senior care license last year because they saw a growing need for elderly care homes in South-Central Los Angeles.

Hill said they no longer take in elderly residents with medical problems but will continue to accept the city’s poor and neglected.

“If what I am doing is evil, then I will continue to do evil,” he said.