The employee accused of mistreating a resident with dementia last month at St. John’s Lutheran Community on Fountain Lake was terminated immediately once the alleged abuse came to light, said the organization’s administrator on Friday.

Samantha Weldon, 23, has been charged with one count of disorderly conduct by a caregiver against a vulnerable adult, a gross misdemeanor. She is accused of slapping a resident in the face and calling him vulgar names, according to Freeborn County District Court records. The incident was recorded by another employee at the facility.

Weldon was a certified nursing assistant at St. John’s, said Administrator Scot Spates.

Spates said in addition to the facility’s own internal investigation, investigations have been conducted by the Albert Lea Police Department and the Minnesota Department of Health. He said other residents were interviewed, and there’s no reason to believe the alleged abuse happened with any other residents.

“Abuse is very traumatic for the resident,” Spates said. “When there’s abuse, it’s heartbreaking for the families, and it’s very troubling for staff that work with the residents.”

He said it has been painful for him and others who work at St. John’s to find out about the alleged mistreatment, and he hopes this incident does not discredit the many other nursing home employees who are kind, caring, skilled and hardworking people and who have built strong relationships with the people they serve.

“When abuse like this does happen, the relationship that our staff have with the residents, and the relationship that our staff have with the families of the residents — that destroys the relationship between the residents and the staff,” Spates said. “The abuse violates that relationship.”

Spates said if Weldon is found guilty of the charge against her, she will be taken off the CNA registry in Minnesota and will never be able to work with seniors in similar environments.

She is slated to appear in court Aug. 29.

 

See what happened last night in the PM report here.