Resident of Bend’s Aspen Ridge Memory Care dies after being left in sun for 2 hours; state cites understaffing, limits intake

Special report: 'That is the ultimate neglect,' says dismissed sales director

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Diona Browning described the recent death of a resident of Aspen Ridge Memory Care: "So she would wear a fleece jacket or a fleece vest. And on a very hot day, she was left outside - and apparently they forgot about her."

Browning, the former sales director at Aspen Ridge, lost her job there after only eight months, and says she was far from alone. 

"Almost the entire management staff - they just got rid of us," she said. "It was a systematic eradication of a complete management staff that knew the extent and duration of these issues."

Browning said the shortage of staff was a recurring problem.

"We would have an investigation with the state. They'd give us all these violations," she said. "We'd hire a temporary outside agency to come in, fill the need, and then we would have our reinspection. And then two weeks later, all that agency additional help that we had is gone, because it's very expensive." 

Two weeks after the death, the Oregon Department of Human Services began an investigation, finding that the facility had failed to ensure the safety of residents due to understaffing.

Fred Steele is the director of the state DHS Ombudsman Office, which advocates for residents in state-licensed care facilities.

"A couple caregivers had to call in sick that morning," Steele told us. "But then there was no urgent effort to have the staffing in place that was needed."

"There's a couple of different ways that facilities tend to address caregivers calling in sick - because that does happen," Steele said. "And if you have one caregiver sick, especially after coming out of COVID, we recognize that you might have multiple caregivers sick.

"Coming out of COVID, the industry knows how to reach out to what they call agency staff, so staffing agencies that can send caregivers over, usually pretty quickly," he said. "And then alternatively, especially in a corporate structure, which this facility is a part of, that there are corporate staff who can usually fill in quickly if needed. And in this case, it didn't seem to be that there were either of those options chosen."

 The ODHS report shows the resident died August 30 after being left outside in a courtyard for two hours. The temperature in Bend that day reached 97 degrees.

When emergency services arrived, the state report says, the woman's body temperature was 105 degrees. She later died at the hospital.

Browning said, "It was devastating. And to me, that's why I'm here, because that is the ultimate neglect.”

 In a statement to NewsChannel 21 Oregon DHS said a license condition was issued, which includes a restriction on taking new residents. The facility is being closely monitored for staffing and courtyard checks. Bi-weekly reports are required, addressing the issues.

Browning said these are not new issues for the facility. "This has been going on for 20 years." 

ODHS online records show shows Aspen Ridge Memory Care had previous abuse and licensing violations dating as far back as 2007.

Browning said, "I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, this is more like a sanatorium! They're just sitting here, They're crying. No one's talking. They're clearly depressed.'"

According to Browning, residents are supposed to engage in activities every 30 to 45 minutes, but there's not enough staff to facilitate them or address the basic needs of residents.

,"I've had family members complain about they haven't had a shower, their hair is greasy. they look the same as they did last week when i was here."

 We reached out to aspen ridge memory care for comment by phone and email, but have not received a response.

NewsChannel 21 also learned Wednesday the state's ombudsman's office now has staff on site confirming residents are receiving proper care.