HARRISBURG – Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Unit have filed criminal charges against three Delaware County women accused of neglecting a personal home care patient and providing false information to investigators.
Corbett identified the three defendants as Donna Marie Cameron, 39, Aston; Caroline M. Tribbey, 57, Brookhaven; and Nancy J. Curtis, 51, of Swarthmore. Cameron was the director of nursing at St. James Place, a residential care home in Delaware County; Curtis was the administrator of St. James Place and Tribbey was a nursing unit manager.
Corbett said the investigation was placed before a statewide investigating grand jury, which recommended that his office file criminal charges.
According to the criminal charges, Cameron failed to provide proper care to a 72-year old patient, Patricia Holdsworth. Holdsworth was transported by ambulance on Sept. 19, 2005, from St. James Place to Crozer Chester Medical Center after a staff member noticed a trail of blood coming from a wound on the upper right side of her head. When emergency room workers removed the bandage, they discovered more than 50 live maggots in the deep wound. They also noted that Holdsworth’s clothing was extremely soiled, unkempt and that she had a strong body odor.
“It is a crime for a person to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause harm to a care-dependent person by not providing proper treatment or attention,” Corbett said. “The gross negligence displayed in this case is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Corbett said Holdsworth was first admitted to Crozer Chester Medical Center on June 3, 2005, so that doctors could examine a lesion on her head. Doctors recommended Holdsworth be seen by a dermatologist for possible skin cancer and that a prescription antibiotic ointment should be applied; however, records indicate that the patient never saw a dermatologist and the prescription was never filled.
According to the grand jury, Cameron claimed that records at St. James Place for the months of June, July, August, and September indicated that Cameron had applied fresh dressings to Holdsworth’s wound on all but a few occasions. Cameron stated that she had recorded both written and typed documentation of the care provided to Holdsworth at or about the same time medical attention was given.
Corbett said that the two other defendants, Caroline Tribbey and Nancy Curtis, along with Cameron allegedly provided false information about the methods in which records were kept at St. James, and showed inconsistencies in patient treatment reports, including the date the reports were recorded, who provided the personal care and the actual care that was administered.
Corbett said Patricia Holdsworth recovered from her injuries and is now living in another residential care home.
Cameron is charged with one count each for neglect of a care dependent person, false swearing, and perjury, and two counts each for tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, tampering with public records, tampering with records, and unsworn falsification.
Curtis is charged with one count each of false swearing, perjury, and tampering with records; three counts each of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and tampering
with public records; and two counts of unsworn falsification.
Tribbey is charged with one count each of false swearing, perjury, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, tampering with records, and unsworn falsification.
Corbett would like to thank employees at Crozer Chester Medical Center, Woodlyn Ambulance Company, and St. James Place for their assistance in the investigation.
Cameron was arraigned this morning before and freed on $50,000 unsecured bail. Her preliminary hearing is set for March 12 at 8:30 a.m. before Chester Magisterial District Judge Robert Blythe.
Tribbey and Curtis were arraigned yesterday and release on their own recognizance. Their preliminary hearings’ are set for March 28 at 9:30 a.m. before Harrisburg Magisterial District Judge Joseph Solomon.
The Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Unit was created in 2006 to investigate the neglect of Pennsylvania seniors, along with fraud, abuse, and other forms of exploitation.