2 Investigators: Assisted-Living Facility Neglected Resident, Suit Says

February 25, 2014 3:58 AM " (CBS) - For years assisted-living facilities have filled a gap for seniors who may need some help with daily living but do not yet require nursing home care.

But 2 Investigator Pam Zekman found that some assisted living facilities do not give residents the help they need and have violated state regulations requiring them to have sufficient staff and that they not keep residents who develop certain complex medical needs.

A tour of Sunrise Assisted Living in Willowbrook is impressive. Brochures detail the available care.

In 2010, it seemed a good fit for Marie-Rose Demkowicz, a multiple sclerosis patient who used a wheelchair. She had fallen in her home and broke a hip, prompting her family to look for an assisted-living facility with staff to help her.

Marie-Rose’s son and daughter were impressed with the call buttons that Sunrise residents could wear around their neck to use when they needed to summon help.

“We needed someone there to assist her to use the bathroom,” says Stefanie Lopez-Demkowicz, Marie-Rose’s daughter.

But a pending lawsuit filed by the family charges Marie-Rose fell about 14 times at the Sunrise facility "

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