Nursing Home Owner Charged with Neglect

Prosperity, SCA Newberry County nursing home neglect case has resulted in the arrest of the nursing home's owner, 64-year-old Roy Lee Bowers, and he has been charged with neglect, a felony, because the patient was an adult who was vulnerable. The neglect led to the death of the patient.

Bowers also lost his license for healthcare administration on Friday April 18, 2008.

The facility was being investigated when it was found that William Sealy, 59, was found to weigh only 94 pounds due to being severely malnourished. It was on April 10 that Sealy was taken to Newberry County Memorial Hospital by a caregiver from the Southside Residential Care Facility where Sealy was residing. It is when hospital employees saw the condition of Sealy that they called the police.

It was found that Sealy had bed bugs, leg injuries, he had a toe that was rotting off, a toenail that had already rotted off, and his socks were on his feet for such a long period of time that his skin had peeled off when the socks were taken off. It looked as if he had not been bathed in at least a week and he had scalp disease. Medical officials said his weight should have been around 160 pounds at the time.

Sealy then had to be placed on a ventilator and died on April 12, 2008. The autopsy results have shown that he had severe infection and also had pneumonia. It is also said that Sealy was a schizophrenic.

The family is not sure exactly when Sealy began displaying his schizophrenic symptoms. He would carry around a notebook full of license plate numbers and would argue with himself. He was admitted to a facility. His family did not know he was in a facility until his death because they were told by his guardian that it was in the best interest of his very sensitive mental condition that they should avoid contact with him. This has severely embarrassed the family because they say they simply took the advice of the guardian because they felt he was being taken care of.

The condition of the other twenty residents of the nursing home has been investigated although there have not been any recent complaints of abuse within the facility. It is said that there isn't a lot of staff and they are pressed for time, so the families of the residents more or less get what they pay for. The investigation turned up some paperwork issues, but no major violations.

However, Sealy had resided in a facility called Peachtree Manor up until three weeks prior, so it is believed that the issues that led to his death had started before he was sent to Southside Residential Care Facility.

There has been no word as to whether a lawsuit will be filed by the family against the care facilities that were in charge of Sealy's care.

By: Ginger Gillenwater