A licensed practical nurse has been sentenced in connection with the death last year of an 87-year-old dementia patient at Freedom Pointe in The Villages.
Gaye Gall, 72, of Spruce Creek South in Summerfield, pleaded guilty to a charge of neglect this past week in Sumter County Court. She has been placed on probation for three years.
The Michigan native had been arrested after the woman was found dead on the morning of July 18 at Freedom Pointe Assisted Living. An investigation revealed she had died the previous day.
The patient had been sitting in a common area of the facility when she fell, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Gall told a certified nursing assistant to put the woman to bed. The CNA said she did not feel “comfortable” doing this because the woman seemed unresponsive and appeared to need medical attention. Gall claimed the patient was “heavily medicated.”
The detective interviewed Freedom Pointe’s assisted living director who said that Gall never documented the patient’s fall.
Days later in an interview with the detective, Gall claimed the patient was “really out of it.”
The standard protocol is to render care to a fall patient, including neurological checks, assessment of vital signs and notifying a physician as well as the patient’s family. Gall admitted she failed to perform any of these duties during the incident.
She was terminated from Freedom Pointe.
