Nursing Home Resident, 94, Found in Freezer

UPDATE: Silverado Senior Living was placed on a five-year probation by the state's Department of Social Services in the fall of 2010 shortly after this incident took place. The assisted living facility, which primarily houses patients who suffer from dementia, was also ordered to train its staff on how to prevent the elderly residents from wandering off.

Silverado was also given the choice of placing a trained staff member outside the facility to keep any residents from wandering off site or to install a bracelet monitoring system.

During the probation, an auditor from the state's social services department will make quarterly visits to assisted living facility to conduct compliance checks.

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The California Department of Social Services is investigating how a 94-year-old resident of Calabasas-based ended up trapping herself in a walk-in freezer last month.

The incident comes about six months after a former caregiver at the assisted living facility was sentenced to life in prison for torturing elderly residents that suffer from dementia.

On Oct. 28, one of the roughly 60 residents, identified by the Los Angeles Times as Molly Fischer, was reported missing at Silverado. After a search of the grounds, she was found in a walk-in freezer used for storing meat and other perishables, and whose temperature was set at five degrees, the Times reported.

Mark Mostow, senior vice president at Silverado, which mainly cares for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, declined to talk in detail to the Times about the incident, but said the woman was "back at the community safe and sound" after a brief hospital stay.

Loren B. Shook, the president, CEO and chairman of the company posted a message on the company website saying that "an internal investigation was initiated by Silverado and it resulted in immediate corrective action against two associates."

In the message, Shook said the locking mechanism to one of the doors to the kitchen had been removed by a member of the plant operations staff with the intention of repairing or replacing it early the next day.

However, since no one knew that the locking apparatus was not working, the resident was able to enter the kitchen in the after hours and access the walk-in refrigerator/freezer.

"She was not there for long because Silverado's staff noted her absence and initiated a system-wide search. She was found standing in the freezer, alert and responsive. The staff immediately provided appropriate care for her and called 911," Shook said on the website.

Silverado reported the incident to the Department of Social Services, which is still investigating. Michael Weston, a spokesman for the agency, said disciplinary action against facilities like Silverado can range from a fine to closure, the Times reported.

In May this year, a caregiver from Silverado was , and an additional six-years for abusing them.

Cesar Ulloa, was reported to have body slammed one of his victims, jumped off a dresser and landed knee-first on the stomach of another. He had indulged in other abusive behavior in 2007 during his employment at Silverado Senior Living when he was only 18 years old.

City News Service was also used in compiling this report.