Apr 21, 2009 11:00 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Nursing Home Security Test Follow-Up
Reporting
Jim Osman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
A nursing home massacre in North Carolina in March stunned the nation.
That same week a CBS3 I-Team undercover investigation exposed how some local nursing homes have lax security.
So what would happen when the I-Team tested security again at the very same nursing homes?
Our Investigative Reporter Jim Osman has the results.
A gunman stormed a North Carolina nursing home in late March. Eight people were killed.
A 98-year-old woman was among the victims.
So you'd think that days after the incident local nursing homes would have heightened security.
But that's not what we found.
The most glaring example was the 48 minutes the I-Team spent undercover and undetected wandering around Innova Health and Rehab Center in Deptford, New Jersey.
"How could you not take something like that very seriously," said Debra Zambito who is Innova's Chief Administrative Officer. "It was upsetting to us that it occurred."
When Innova found out about our undercover investigation, it ordered its 25 facilities in four states to spend an in-service day reviewing security procedures.
And when we recently made another unannounced visit with our undercover camera, we were stopped in the lobby right away at the reception area.
And when we visited the home for our scheduled interview with the administrator, a security guard was posted at the front door.
"We all know why we're here everyday and it's for the residents," said Zambito.
All the nursing homes which failed the security test the first time passed the second time around.
Those that passed included Oakwood Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Northeast Philadelphia.
The first time we were there, our I-Team producer walked in past a receptionist and roamed the nursing home for 10 minutes.
No one ever stops her and she leaves.
Also passing is Tucker House on Wallace Street in Philadelphia.
During our first visit, our I-Team producer roamed around and is never detected.
The I-Team investigation served as a wake-up call to beef up security because on our return visits, our producer could not get further than the reception desk.
Tucker House and Oakwood Health Care and Rehabilitation, which failed our test the first time and passed on the second unannounced visit, had the following statements.
Tucker House tells us it is pleased its security policy was in full force on our second visit.
Oakwood Health Care and Rehabilitation would only say it strives for a secure facility for its residents.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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