Bills would require more assessment before a patient can be admitted to a personal-care home

Legislation dubbed "Larry's Law" is aimed at preventing what happened to Larry Lee from happening again.

House Bill 307, filed by Democratic Rep. Terry Mills, right, "would require an individual to be examined and assessed by a medical professional before admission to a personal care home, and it would require further assessment of the degree of disability for an individual with an acquired brain injury who was being considered for placement," report Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Senate Bill 115, filed by Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon, left, would require that a potential resident be evaluated by a mental health professional before someone is admitted to a personal care home, a cost that would be picked up by the state. Higdon and Mills are both from Lebanon, where Larry Lee lived until he went to Falmouth Nursing Home in Pendleton County.

In August, Lee, right, disappeared from the home, one of 82 free-standing personal care homes in Kentucky. Lee, who had a brain injury from childhood, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and diabetes. He was found dead four week after his disappearance on the banks of the Licking River, which flows through Falmouth.

A pre-admission assessment "is the only thing that we found that could have saved Larry Lee," Higdon said. "His condition was too severe. He should have never been in a personal care home." (Read more)

Brain-injured man disappeared when home staff wasn't looking

On the day of his disappearance, a resident of a personal-care home who was found dead four weeks later had not been checked on by staff for nearly three hours, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing documents from a state investigation.

Additionally, Falmouth Nursing Home did not have a policy to make sure residents were under constant supervision and "the facility failed to establish" one, investigators found.

Larry Joe Lee, right, was a ward of the state and had a brain injury stemming from a childhood accident. He was "schizophrenic, bipolar and diabetic," Spears writes. He disappeared from the nursing home Aug. 4. His body was found Sept. 3 near the Licking River by bow hunters. The cause of his death has not yet been determined.

Spears' calls to the  home were not returned. It has since submitted a plan of correction to the state, which includes professional development for staff and new policies to keep track of patients' whereabouts.

"Since Lee's death, advocates and state lawmakers have been questioning whether personal care homes are the appropriate plate for people with brain injuries," Spears reports. Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon, who comes from Lee's hometown of Lebanon, said he is on a fact-finding mission to see what changes need to be made to prevent a similar occurrence from happening. (Read more)