SNF employee charged over resident video

Authorities charged an employee of LifeHOUSE Vista Healthcare Center, a skilled nursing facility in Vista, Calif., with elder abuse and invasion of privacy following investigations stemming from an October accusation that she recorded a video of a partially-nude elderly resident being helped into a shower and posted it on Snapchat.  

LaToya Walker and a second employee who has not been named have both been fired, and at least one of the employees has had her certified nursing assistant credentials revoked, according to KGTV-San Diego.

In the video, Walker is reportedly seen laughing at the 90-year-old resident, who has dementia, and has been accused of mocking her while filming.

Investigators were initially tipped off to the incident when a whistleblower was reported to several local television stations by a whistleblower who saw the footage on Snapchat and saved a copy.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.