Megan's Law for nursing homes gaining traction in Harrisburg

A state lawmaker is making good on a promise to repair a flawed system that permits aging and ailing convicted sex offenders to quietly enter long-term care facilities — often unbeknownst to patients and staff — where some easily are finding their next victims.

A bill set to be introduced next week by state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Ambridge, comes in response to a Tribune-Review investigation published last month detailing what experts termed a simmering crisis involving more than 900,000 sex offenders on Megan’s Law registries across the nation.

After learning the details of the newspaper’s investigation, an outraged Matzie vowed to take action on the matter as soon as the General Assembly reconvened at the start of the year.

On Friday, Matzie said his measure — which has drawn widespread, bipartisan support — calls for nursing homes, adult daycare centers and personal care homes to vet new admissions through the state’s Megan’s Law registry, create patient safety plans to protect others from the offenders, and notify staff and residents when convicted sex offenders are admitted.

“The facilities will also report this information to the (state) Department of Health to create and maintain a statewide registry — a Megan’s Law for nursing homes, if you will,” Matzie wrote in a memo to House members seeking co-sponsors for the bill.

The Tribune-Review investigation revealed that no laws or state health department regulations require any of the safeguards outlined in Matzie’s bill.

Related:

• Hidden danger: Registered sex offenders often go undetected in care homes
• No central registry in Pennsylvania tracks convicted sex offenders place in nursing care facilities
• State lawmakers vow to better protect care home residents from convicted sex offenders

Matzie said quick change is necessary, a concern leading him to also pen a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf asking him to consider putting in place immediate regulatory notification requirements that would take effect before his legislative action is approved.

Wolf’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Matzie said the fact that these offenders will need some type of long-term care is unavoidable. It’s providing that care without jeopardizing others that is the issue, he said.

“Registered sexual offenders will age. They will need care,” Matzie wrote in the memo to colleagues. “The vast majority will not commit another offense. This legislation will not, in any way, ban or bar them from getting the care they will need. It will simply afford the staff and residents of our nursing homes the same right to information and protection that all Pennsylvanians currently possess.”

Matzie’s interest in the issue began when he learned from Tribune-Review reporters about the case of a 57-year-old dementia patient who was sexually assaulted by convicted sex offender Richard Marlin Walter while both were patients at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County.

Walter, 63, who died in November, had numerous brushes with the law spanning several decades, including a case where he was charged with sexually assaulting and threatening to kill a mentally disabled patient while he was working at a state hospital in Union County.

The reporters found that patients, their families and the nursing staff caring for Walter knew nothing about his past.

Walter was one of seven sex offenders residing at Brighton and one of 68 in Western Pennsylvania long-term care facilities, according to the investigation.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services subsequently fined Brighton $186,375 after a state inspector reported that officials at the home had failed to include Walter’s record in his charts.

As of Friday morning, Matzie’s bill already had attracted 11 co-sponsors. Republicans and Democrats from across the state signed on, including Western Pennsylvania lawmakers Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville; Austin Davis, D-McKeesport; Anthony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills; Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin; and Pam Synder, D-Waynesburg.

“We hope to get some more co-sponsors and introduce a bill next week. It was a pretty hectic week, and I think a lot of people have yet to see the memo,” Matzie said.

Matzie was appalled to learn about the assault at Brighton, which is located in his district and is where his late father stayed several years ago.

Like Matzie, Brooks was troubled to learn that some nursing homes were admitting sex offenders without notifying staff and residents or creating patient safety plans.

Brooks, who is finishing his second term in the state House, also sits on the board of Redstone Highlands, a nonprofit network of eldercare facilities.

Although Brooks said Redstone follows a thorough vetting process for all new residents, he was stunned to learn there were no laws requiring that approach at every facility across the state.

Under current law, facilities are not required to accept any patient.

“It surprised me we haven’t moved forward on something like this already. These are the type of things we should be sponsoring,” Brooks said.

The Tribune-Review found Pennsylvania lagging behind other states that have laws in place to address the growing number of sex offenders needing medical care.

Matzie said he was encouraged to learn that nearly a dozen other states have been able to get similar laws across the finish line.