state inspection records
Balfour employees, after the woman’s death, then “fed lies and misleading statements to the Louisville Police Department to avoid criminal charges,” the family alleged in a January lawsuit. A witness told officers she and another Balfour staffer, Alex Febiri, were assisting a resident with cognitive and memory issues. The resident, who is not named, had soiled her diaper and needed to be changed, an officer wrote in an incident report.
Febiri was arrested and charged with third-degree assault of an at-risk person, neglect and harassment, court records show. He pleaded guilty to the assault charge, receiving a deferred judgment. His record is set to be sealed this week and the charge dismissed. The resident identified a staff member, who was not named. Balfour asked this individual not to return after it became apparent he had limited dementia training, according to state records.At Balfour’s Central Park facility in Denver, at least one staff member was fired and three other employees were suspended for various infractions since 2019, health department records show.
Health department regulators have routinely cited Balfour’s facilities for a variety of infractions, though many were not deemed severe. “I was sitting naked in my shower chair by the front door when the kitchen delivered my breakfast,” the resident told investigators, accusing the company of retaliating against him for reporting the incidents. “This is completely humiliating. Not only are you taking time from me that cannot be replaced, but you are thoroughly embarrassing me.”
Current and former staff told investigators that there had been numerous times in which business owners and neighbors had called the facility to inform them that a resident was walking down the street or entered their store and didn’t know how to get back. Three months after Staub’s death, a woman in her 70s left Denver’s Central Park facility for more than two hours without staff noticing, according to Balfour’s internal investigation that was sent to the state. A good Samaritan found her trying to cross a road in her wheelchair.
The two staffers on duty that night spent the bulk of their shift in the Lavender Farms’ third-floor theater room, leaving the nurse’s station unattended for almost six hours, the family’s attorneys wrote in an amended complaint filed last month.
This is beyond tragic. It is most definitely criminal behavior. Poor leadership, no oversight, no accountability. Balfour is finished in this area.