Care Home Operator Faces Abuse Trial

An operator and two employees of a Thousand Oaks board-and-care home were ordered to stand trial on felony elder abuse charges Wednesday after a judge found an 86-year-old female resident was severely neglected in their care.

It is the first time county prosecutors have brought criminal charges against operators of a residential care facility, and the case has touched off a fierce debate over the role of care providers.

Defense attorneys say their clients called an ambulance as soon as resident Dorothy Malven exhibited troubling symptoms and should not be held responsible for her failing health.

But prosecutors say the defendants were obligated to do more for Malven, who died a week after leaving the Dune Street home.

“People put their trust in these facilities to care for their loved ones,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Audry Rohn said after the hearing. “And that trust was violated.”

Grazyna “Grace” Baran, 29, and two of her employees, Bronislawa Zachhrczuk, 51, and Stanislawa Wisla, 52, are accused of failing to seek medical attention for Malven, who lived at the now-closed Halina’s Residential Care for about a month in the spring of 1998.

A former Westlake Village resident, Malven died May 24, 1998, after being hospitalized for a deep bed sore, dehydration and a severe urinary tract infection.

At the defendants’ preliminary hearing Wednesday, prosecutors called a medical expert who testified Malven could have survived if she had been given proper treatment.

“If she had appropriate nutrition and hydration, and was cared for and turned [over], in all likelihood she would be alive today,” said Dr. Loren Lipson, a professor of geriatric medicine at USC.

But Lipson acknowledged under questioning by defense attorneys that he only reviewed medical records and did not treat Malven. He also said it was possible, though unlikely, that Malven’s condition could have worsened after she was taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center.

Five investigators with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department testified about interviews they conducted with the defendants.

Sgt. Bruce Young interviewed Baran, who operated four elder-care homes in Thousand Oaks until June 3, 1998, when the state Department of Social Services revoked her licenses and relocated her clients.

Baran told Young she knew Malven had a small pink spot on her back when she arrived at Halina’s and instructed her employees to put some ointment on the spot, Young said.

Weeks later, Zachhrczuk told Baran the blister-like wound had “opened up,” and Baran instructed her to cover it with a sterile dressing, Young said. But neither Baran nor her employees immediately called a doctor.

At the end of the hearing, defense attorneys argued their clients had no motive to harm Malven and called an ambulance as soon as her symptoms were obvious.

They also argued their clients were not health care providers and could not have been in a position to inflict abuse.

According to court testimony, Wisla shopped for groceries, chauffeured residents and distributed prescription drugs. Zachhrczuk bathed and fed the six residents at Halina’s as well as about a dozen residents at the other homes.

“She has been roped into something she had nothing to do with,” argued attorney Michael Goldstein, who represents Zachhrczuk. “This case is razor-thin at best.”

But Rohn, who heads the district attorney’s elder abuse unit, argued the defendants should have called a doctor sooner.

Rohn suggested the defendants were motivated by “selfishness and greed,” and chose not to take Malven to the hospital earlier because they didn’t want to sit in an emergency room for hours.

“These people were paid to care for her,” Rohn argued. “Each and every one of them is on the hook.”

Hensen ruled the evidence showed there was a strong suspicion the defendants committed elder abuse, and held all three to answer the charges at trial.

Baran and Wisla are each charged with one count of felony elder abuse with infliction of great bodily injury, which carries a maximum sentence of nine years in prison. Zachhrczuk is charged with one count of felony elder abuse, with a maximum prison sentence of four years.