One Nursing Home Shocker After Another

Admin at Schulenburg Facility Was Fired For Cover-Up, Then Hired to Lead LG’s Care Inn Before Newspaper Uncovered Connection

The nursing home administrator who was fired for allegedly covering up a sexual assault in Schulenburg had been working at Care Inn in La Grange until last Friday.

Two weeks ago the Record received a response to our open records request regarding a state investigation into abuse at Paradigm at the Oak, the Schulenburg nursing home formerly known as Colonial Care Center. The documents detailed a sexual assault allegedly committed on Nov. 2, 2024, by a male resident against a female resident. Last week, we learned that a Fayette County Grand Jury indicted the alleged attacker, 75-year-old Kenneth Buel Williams Jr.

Even more alarming, perhaps, is the coverup that appeared to take place following the assault. The nursing home administrator at the time, Pamela Noell, allegedly instructed her staff to not report the crime to police nor to seek hospital care for the victim.

One of the documents from Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), titled Nursing Facility Survey/ Inspection Report dated Nov. 7, 2024 stated the following: “... the facility failed to appropriately assess (the victim) after the incident nor did they send her to the hospital or call law enforcement.”

The report went on to document an interview HHSC surveyors conducted with a social worker at the facility. The social worker stated “she knew (the victim) had a history of disrobing and a history of wandering into other resident’s rooms, but since they did not have ‘all of the facts yet,’ that was probably why the (administrator) had not made a report to HHSC. She stated if it had been her, she would have wanted (the victim) to have been sent to the hospital for evaluation as she could have suffered trauma. She stated that ‘to her knowledge, the nurse was ‘blocked’ from sending her out to the hospital’ but was not sure by who.”

The HHSC surveyors also interviewed the nurse that the social worker mentioned. The report said the nurse told investigators that the administrator “told her not to document anything in (the victim’s) chart. The nurse “stated she wanted to send (the victim) to the hospital but the (administrator) told her not to.”

The nurse told surveyors that during a morning meeting on Nov. 4, 2024, the administrator said “it was (the victim’s) fault because she should not have been in his room in the first place. (The nurse) stated everyone was disgusted and it brought her to tears. She stated the police should have been called and (the victim) should have been sent to the hospital. She stated the (administrator) was the Abuse and Neglect Coordinator and should have done something. (The nurse) stated she had turned in her resignation due to this situation.”

Furthermore, HHSC surveyors interviewed the victim’s responsible party who stated the victim could not have consented to a sexual encounter due to her mental status.

Paradigm terminated Noell over the matter on Nov. 17, 2024, according to the documents we obtained from HHSC The Record learned that Noell was hired as the administrator at Care Inn of La Grange in March of this year. We tried contacting Noell for comment on this story, but she has not responded.

Last Thursday, April 24, we presented this information to Summit Long Term Care, the parent company for Care Inn of La Grange, and asked if they knew about the allegations before hiring Noell. The owners of the company, Chris Slimmer and Justin Johnson, called the Record about an hour later. They were quite shocked to learn about the allegations. They declined to comment publicly on their hiring process. But they said none of the allegations appeared in the multiple background checks they conducted.

Slimmer gave us the following statement:

“Care Inn of La Grange currently holds a four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services— the highest rating within the region. Our commitment to providing exceptional care is unwavering. We have zero tolerance for abuse or neglect in any form. Achieving the best outcomes for our residents and their families remains central to our core values.

“While I can’t comment on specific personnel matters due to privacy and legal considerations, I can assure you that Care Inn of La Grange is fully committed to the safety and well-being of our residents. All hiring decisions follow a rigorous and compliant process, including background checks and reference verifications, in accordance with all applicable state and federal regulations.

“We take any allegation of misconduct in our industry extremely seriously and continually strive to uphold the highest standards of care and integrity across any facility we are associated with.”

The next day, Friday, April 25, the Record learned that Noell was no longer employed by Care Inn.

We began this investigation in February of this year after hearing about the sexual assault, along with the fact that 23 registered sex offenders were living at Paradigm at the Oak during that time frame. The indictment handed down against Williams last month states that he is a previouslyconvicted sex offender.

According to the Texas Public Sex Offender Database, there are still 18 registered sex offenders living at the facility as of Friday, April 25. We still don’t know why so many sex offenders live at the nursing home, and Paradigm has not responded to our multiple inquiries into the matter.

The website for Paradigm at the Oak describes its mission as follows: “Paradigm Healthcare was founded on the belief that by empowering each other, we can achieve more and provide better care to every patient we serve. We believe in taking a fundamental and basic human approach to our business, keeping it simple, real and to the point. We believe that by building an empowered team, who knows the value they hold, we can provide an unparalleled level of care to the residents who count on us.”

Paradigm at the Oak’s website boasts that the facility is “Five-Star Quality Rated” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). However, the medicare. gov Nursing Home Compare website gives the facility a one-star rating, along with a red flag stating that the nursing home was cited for abuse.

This latest episode raises even more questions. How does the background check process work for nursing home administrators? How can an administrator get fired for covering up a crime at one nursing home and then get a job a few months later at another nursing home 19 miles away. Does the State of Texas have a contract with Paradigm at the Oak to house sex offenders? Should registered sex offenders be allowed to live alongside the general public in nursing homes? Do nursing homes notify residents and their loved ones if a registered sex offender moves into a nursing home?

We hope to answer these questions in future installments to this series.