Caregivers

I am Power of Attorney for a disabled woman with M.S., she was receiving in-​home healthcare services from Caregivers Inc. We had one great aid, she was reassigned to another patient. The following 2 aids that Caregivers were nightmares! I have been in the field of disabilities support for over 30 years and have never seen such poor treatment as was given by the last 2 aids. I am president of a disabilities rights group and caution against using Caregivers.
Member Comments:
1^st aid sent was great. She was reassigned to another patient in hospice.
2^nd aid sent was racist. Clearly had a big issue with those not her race. She also slept on the job, spent a good portion of the 4 hours or so at the patients home fixing and eating food for herself, and watched TV. She did put dishes in the dishwasher and vacuumed, did some laundry. But when I brought over some vitamins — she yelled that the patient should have been on them all along (she was). She also insisted I buy an iron for the patient to use — even thought the doctor had cautioned against her using one, and the patient had no clothes that required ironing. Free passes to Worlds of Fun on the counter went missing, then re-​appeared after I called the aid asking if she had seen them. She also called Missouri’s equivalent of S.R.S. on me when the patient’s downs syndrome daughter laid down on the couch next to me. This aid had territorial boundaries — she felt she was in charge of the household. She called, screamed at me on my cell phone and hung up when I didn’t purchase an iron for the patient. I had her fired.
3^rd aid was very interested in money. Told me that her last patient had left her $ 60,000 in the will, but the family refused to pay it to her. She asked about the patient’s tax returns, social security checks, and told me she had been a suspect in a person’s murder in Kansas City Missouri. She did not show up on time, sometimes not at all. She ask me to lend her money. Took food and I found she had put it in her car, the patient’s $ 1,500 in cash from a tax return went missing along with a 5 gallon former water cooler bottle filled with quarters. The patient had no other visitors or people entering the house. Money purposely left on a table as a test went missing.
She violated Missouri health laws by showing up to work covered in a unknown rash and sick. When fired she called me several times, and filed a workers comp lawsuit somehow saying the patient was at fault. Caregivers hired her because she could bring new patients to them, away from an old agency she worked for. The old patients didn’t want her, and so she was assigned to my friend. She later called trying to get my patient signed up at a new agency under her, that’s her way of finding a new job.
Caregivers explained they can only go so far in evaluating new staff. But its not right that my friend go the new, untried care workers, who would steal and had bad attitudes. Read less