NURSING HOMES HAVE GOOD TRACK RECORD, OFFICIAL SAYS

Residents wander away from nursing homes at times, the head of the Missouri Health Care Association says.

But overall, nursing homes have a good record of keeping track of their residents, said Earl Carlson, the association's executive director.

The association, based in Jefferson City, represents 380 of the state's nearly 1,300 licensed nursing facilities.

Nursing homes could be escape proof if patients were kept behind bars, drugged or controlled with physical restraints, he said.

But Carlson said society and families don't want to turn nursing homes into jails.

Carlson said Beverly has a good reputation. "They do a fine job of taking care of people."

But the courts found that wasn't the case at a Beverly-owned nursing home in Florida.

An appeals court two years ago upheld a jury verdict of $2.7 million against the Brooksville, Florida, nursing home.

The court found that the nursing home had exhibited "a reckless disregard of human life" in allowing an 88-year-old man to die of severe bed sores and malnutrition.

In Matthews, police and family members are still wondering what happened to Earnest Gates, more than two months after he disappeared from a nursing home.

Gates, 81, disappeared July 26 from the porch of Sells Rest Home.

An employee of the nursing home gave Gates medication at 11 a.m. He was last seen sitting in his favorite chair watching the work at neighboring farms.

When the worker returned 10 minutes later, Gates was gone.

Gates, a former sharecropper, could barely walk. He suffers from Alzheimer's and emphysema.

His favorite Stetson hat and his false teeth were left behind. The disappearance has baffled police and residents in Matthews, a small town with a population of about 1,000.

Gates wasn't fit to walk by himself and the 100-degree-plus heat would have made it even harder, New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens has said.

Gates had tried to walk away from the nursing home twice before. Both times, staff members tracked him down after a few yards.

But helicopters, dogs, horse patrols and infrared technology have found no trace of Gates.

Gates' family blames the nursing home for not keeping a closer eye on him.

Carlson said that in some cases, residents wander away who have had no history of doing so.

"These are people who enjoy sitting outside. They routinely sit outside," he said.

"The chronic elopement problem is another issue," he said.

The public often doesn't understand the reactions of people with dementia.

"People seem to think they can't think, they can't reason. They do.

"If they want out of a building, they can figure a way to get out of the building," said Carlson.