Ex-administrator pleads in trust fund thefts

Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun

EDMOND August 08, 2008 11:39 pm

— A former administrator at an Edmond nursing home pleaded guilty Thursday to taking more than $3,000 from residents in her care.
In the plea agreement, Susan Gail Evers, 55, receives a two-year deferred sentence and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, a $100 victim compensation assessment and court costs, according to a news release issued Friday by Attorney General Drew Edmondson.
During the investigation, Evers admitted she took money from resident’s trust fund accounts at Edmond’s Grace Living Center and gambled the money away, said Charlie Price, a spokesman for Edmondson.
Evers has already paid full restitution of $3,090.65. She was charged in June with one count of caretaker exploitation for illegally taking money from the trust fund accounts of residents at Grace Living Center.
An employee at the facility directed The Edmond Sun to the corporate office.
“Grace Living Center - Edmond takes the responsibility to protect its residents very seriously and has cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation,” said Theresa Green, spokeswoman for Grace Living Center.
When the potential problem was discovered by the facility, the staff promptly took action to assure that no residents were impacted, Green said. An investigation was initiated and authorities were notified, she said.
“The facility seeks to make it clear that the allegations involved pertained to a misuse of funds and that any resident funds involved were immediately restored when the issue was discovered,” Green said.
Edmondson’s Patient Abuse and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has statewide jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute provider fraud and patient abuse and neglect in any Medicaid provider facility.
Anyone with information regarding provider fraud or patient abuse can contact the Attorney General’s Office at 521-4274.