Emory, DeKalb form partnership to house elder abuse victims

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hundreds of elderly people are abused in DeKalb County each year, but they rarely get help, officials said.

DeKalb County Solicitor General Robert James said he hopes to change that with a new partnership between prosecutors and Emory Healthcare, which is donating bed space at its geriatric center. James said the partnership is the first in the nation that guarantees immediate help to elder abuse victims, shelter and a way to preserve evidence for prosecution.

“We believe there are hundreds, maybe thousands of cases now that are slipping through the cracks,” James told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Just because a person goes to the ER doesn’t mean that the doctor can detect signs of abuse. Often when they are underweight or abused, it’s not noticed.”

Emergency workers will bring the patients to Emory, where Dr. Thomas Price will give them a forensic exam to determine whether they have been neglected or injured by their caretakers, he said. He and his staff will then work with police and the solicitor’s office to prosecute the cases.

The most important part is that victims will be given beds at Emory’s Wesley Woods Center, where they will receive care until they can find a permanent and safe home. That care and temporary housing will be free for victims without insurance, Price said.

“The goal is to help the patient recover from the abuse and be able to return to society,” said Price, who practices internal medicine and geriatrics.

Now, elder abuse victims are usually taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where they are treated and then released without immediate care, James said.

“Right now if a caregiver becomes ill or is abusive, there is no place for [the elderly victim] to go,” James said. “They are dropped off at Grady or DeKalb Medical. They are diagnosed with a urinary tract infection or something just so the doctor can keep them in the hospital. Then they are turned out on the street.”

In addition to not receiving the right care, they are taking bed space from other emergencies, James said.

On Tuesday morning, James and officials from Emory signed a memorandum of understanding launching the partnership -- something that has been in the works for two years. The contract provides free bed space at Emory. There will be no additional cost to taxpayers unless the caseload increases and requires an additional solicitor, James said.

The only other similar place, James said, is the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in New York, which says it is the first and only long-term care shelter for elder abuse victims.

Last year, DeKalb, which prosecutors say has one of the fastest-growing senior populations in the Southeast, prosecuted 40 elder abuse cases and 2,500 domestic violence cases.

“We don’t believe the statistics reflect reality,” James told the AJC. “But there is no process for senior citizens to be examined for abuse now.”

Similar to domestic violence, many elderly victims are scared to report the crime because the abuser may be a family member.

“Sometimes they cannot report because they have Alzheimer’s and don’t know how to tell someone,” James said. “It bothers me that they work hard, pay taxes, raise children and contribute to society and then are exploited in their golden years. We’re not doing what we should be doing to ensure they are being cared for. We owe them.”