The Portland nursing home director who blatantly disregarded a resident's severe injuries has been sentenced to 19 months in prison.  Susan Ruddell, was found guilty of criminal mistreatment for her role in a 2006 incident where a nursing home resident was dropped on the ground and ignored for five days before she was taken to a hospital despite visible fractures to her legs. The resident died shortly after the incident from complications related to her injuries.  See the full report of this Portland nursing home director's sentencing here.

Too often meager fines are imposed on facilities that provide poor nursing home care.  The fines are little more than a slap on the wrist to the nursing home owners and administrators.  Hopefully, this case was serve as a wake up call to nursing home administrators though out the country that that they may be held criminally responsible for mistreatment and abuse of their residents.

Read about the Nursing Homes Abuse Blog's earlier report on this case of nursing home abuse here.