KATY, Texas – The family of a 76-year-old Alzheimer's patient said the trauma of being forced to take a shower by a caregiver worsened her condition and left her with bruises.
Janice Sachs was diagnosed with the disease about nine years ago.
Since the diagnosis, her condition has worsened.
PHOTOS: Woman with Alzheimer's injured by hospice care worker
Her family said she was so upset by the stress and excitement caused by Hurricane Harvey that she started refusing to bathe.
Her husband, John, contracted with Vantage Hospice located in Katy, to begin caring for Janice with the understanding, he said, that she would not be forced to shower.
“I told them do not physically try to get her in the shower. And they told me they do not do that,” John said.
In spite of his instructions, John said a second attendant sent out by the agency on Nov. 13 did force his wife to bathe, hurting her in the process.
Sachs’ daughter took photographs showing bruising on her mothers hands and arms. Even worse, her husband said Janice was severely traumatized by the experience.
“I don’t’ want to go out and monetarily sue somebody, that’s not who we are,” John said. ”But what I want is that I don’t want that individual at Vantage to go out and hurt somebody else.”
Sachs’ family has filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.
An administrator with Vantage Hospice, Nicole Knight, told KPRC that the worker is still employed with the agency while an internal investigation is being conducted.