Cota’s Hospitality Home in Barre. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
A majority of staff members at Cota’s Hospitality Home quit their jobs April 1. The facility was so understaffed it was unable to continue operating past that date.
The facility, which has been open since 2001, was under temporary court-appointed management when six of eight staff members left their jobs. The former assistant manager at Cota’s said that staff left because they were mistreated under the court-appointed leadership.
Papers filed by the state in the civil branch of Washington County Superior Court last month say the facility has been found to be in violation of regulations on 30 occasions since 2006.
The Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living reported that previous violations were related to a wide range of issues, including complaints of inaccurate dosages of medication, lack of training for administering insulin, and failure to collect and track patient progress notes.
According to court documents, the complaints came to a head early this year when two residents reported that the facility owner, Michael Cota, had verbally abused them.
One resident said Cota had threatened him to pay money he owed, telling the resident that if he didn’t pay, “I’ll bury you in the backyard and no one will find your body.” The resident also said he was not provided transportation to medical appointments.
In a subsequent report, which the state said was received Jan. 21, a resident reported that Cota treated him like a child and would tell him, “Do as I say or go to your room.”
An investigator with Adult Protective Services, a division of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, substantiated the abuse allegations in both instances.
Then in early March, an employee who functioned both as the facility manager and its licensed nurse — two roles necessary for the facility’s license — left the job, putting the home out of compliance.
Shortly after, on March 18, the state went to the court to ask a judge to appoint a temporary receiver, someone to manage the facility on a short-term basis to get it back into compliance.
Nanc Bourne, who is the director of a facility in Rockingham, was assigned to oversee Cota’s temporarily.
However, shortly after Bourne took over, staff began handing in resignations. According to the facility’s former assistant manager, Kathy Robinson, six staff members left in short order because of the way they were treated under the state’s management.
Robinson also had left her job there March 29 — in part, she said, so the facility could afford to pay for the temporary manager — but she continues to be involved in the situation. Cota declined to comment for this article.
As of April 1, the state determined there were not enough workers to keep the facility operating through the weekend. Monica Hutt, commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, said the state moved in at that point and found emergency housing alternatives for all 16 residents.
Hutt said the state had tried to avoid relocating residents. The department put the facility in temporary receivership “because we didn’t want to do that to the residents,” she said.
“This is a challenging situation, and it’s very emotional for everyone,” Hutt said.
Robinson, who worked at Cota’s for nearly three years, disputed the allegations of verbal abuse in the state’s affidavits. Robinson said the reports came from residents who were making false allegations against Cota.
The facility had agreed to work with the state and to allow the temporary manager to come in and get the facility in line with regulations, Robinson said Monday. However, she said the details of the process were very unclear to Cota’s management.
Robinson said the state and the court-appointed management were “very disrespectful” to the current facility staff, which prompted them to leave their jobs.
“It was a complete epic failure,” Robinson said. “A disaster of a huge magnitude.”
But Hutt said her department considers the court-appointed temporary manager of the home to be “extremely well-qualified” to take on the role.
“I do not believe that she would have treated staff disrespectfully or unprofessionally especially when she was counting on them to assist her in supporting residents and guaranteeing stability,” Hutt said in an email Monday. An attempt to reach Bourne through her place of employment Tuesday was unsuccessful.
Hutt said Adult Protective Services investigates allegations of abuse before substantiation.
A court hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday. Hutt said the department is waiting on the court for the next developments in the case.
Robinson said that even if the case is resolved, full recovery would be difficult for Cota’s.
“It’s been such a financial devastation that to get caught back up is not going to be possible,” she said.
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