SWORN STATEMENT OF VAL HALAMANDARIS, PROFESSIONAL STAFF, SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. Well, we arrived at the Melbourne Nursing Home, and I am speaking of myself and Mr. William Recktenwald, of the Better Government Association. We were greeted at the door. Senator STEVENSON. When was this?

Senator PERCY. Yes.

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. This was last week, on March 25.

Senator PERCY. So that it has been well after all of this has been made public, and all of the State reports have been made?

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. Yes.

We arrived at the nursing home where we were greeted by an armed, uniformed guard-ostensibly hired from a private detective agency. I could describe him as being large in stature and intense. There were written orders on the inside of the door to the effect: Do not allow anyone in this nursing home. Do not allow anyone whether he is a delivery boy, a nurse, or even the police, without written orders or without permission from Mr. Slader. The notice was signed "Daniel A. Slader, Administrator."

I questioned Mr. Slader about that particular notice that he had on

the inside of the door.

Mr. Slader said, "Well, I don't interpret it that way. I don't mean to indicate that nobody can come in here like it says."

I don't know how he wants us to interpret that sign which he still has on the inside of his door. Maybe he will tell you, but to me it simply indicated "No one gets in here unless I say so, not even the U.S. Senate."

BARRED FROM ENTRY

As a matter of fact, the second time when I went to the Melbourne Nursing Home, which was the 31st, to deliver a subpena, the gentleman on my left [indicating Mr. Slader] barred me from entering the Melbourne Nursing Home.

He refused to let me enter and at this time I asked him, "Why?" He said, "Well, we have extended every courtesy that we feel we should to you. You have seen the nursing home. There is no value in your going through it again."

This was his statement.

Going back to the chronology now:

We entered the foyer of the nursing home. The first thing that was apparent to us was the scurrying back and forth of people who could be described as mental patients, and by that I mean, that in their gestures, their arm and head movements, they indicated some difficulty, something which would be very noticeable to you if you walked into the nursing home. It would be an evaluation that you could pick up quickly. Anyone walking into a nursing home would obviously note that these patients were different from nursing home patients who are, by and large, physically ill and disabled.

The smell of new paint was the next thing I noticed. It was very apparent that the painters were busy fixing up the facility.

Mr. Slader indicated to me and had one of his patients tell us that this painting had been going on since January 21. Now, if he can document that for us, beautiful.

KEPT WAITING 35 MINUTES BEFORE TOURING FACILITIES

Shortly thereafter, we sat in Mr. Slader's office, and Mr. Slader called his attorney and we noted the time that we were kept waiting, approximately 35 minutes, before we were allowed to see the facili ties at which time Mr. Slader led us on a tour of the facility.

It was obvious that this nursing home, having been inspected by the city, two or three times a day for the last week-that is an exaggeration, but Murray Brown of the city can provide the exact number of inspections there was an effort being made to keep the nursing home clean and presentable.

The basic point that I would make and that is the conclusions that I formulated-going into a nursing home after it has been inspected day-in and day-out by the city and by the State-are bound to be different than what Pamela Zekman would see, as an employee working in the nursing home, before there has been any attention or controversy raised in the public press or other media about the Melbourne Home.

In the nursing home, obviously from what we saw, was not what Pamela Zekman saw, because there has been a very strong effort on the part of Mr. Slader to improve conditions and to remove the pressure that has been created by the Tribune series.

It is my general opinion the conditions in the nursing home were improving, that Mr. Slader was making an effort to patch up the physical plant.

EFFORTS TO REHABILITATE ONLY DUE TO INVESTIGATIONS

He will tell you this is something he does as a matter of routine. It is my conclusion that he did it only after the strong stimulation of the investigation by the BGA and Tribune.

One thing that I noted was a little confusion about the number of employees he had at the nursing home. Perhaps Mr. Slader can tell us how many he has, or how many he had in the past, and how many of these are part time.

I noted, during my visit, that there were 100 cards numbered at the time machine and I started pulling them out and much to my surprise there were about 30 of them, that were blank. I didn't know the precise number that were blank until I asked Mr. Slader, and Mr. Slader told me, "Well, we have 60-some employees and 30 blank cards."

"Why the 30 blank cards?"

My assumption is that again this is a-well, just to make things look a little better.

We examined the kitchen facilities of the nursing home and found. the things to be generally clean; the food being prepared adequately. I opened the door to the back alley and there was a pile of oldshall we say tables, eating tables, old mattresses, discarded wheel

chairs, old Clorox bottles, everything that you can think of that is used in a nursing home as paraphernalia.

This was stacked up blocking the alley-reaching a height of 6 feet and some 10 feet in dimension the other way. When questioned about that Mr. Slader said:

"Well, we are cleaning out the top floor. The top has never been occupied by patients." I would like some clarification on this point.

WAS FIFTH FLOOR EVER USED FOR PATIENTS?

Mr. Slader indicated to me that the fifth floor was not or has not ever been occupied by patients-and my reading of the city health records indicates that the fifth floor has been occupied by patients in the past. Perhaps he can clarify that for us.

He indicated that the discarded material out in the alley had not been used recently by patients, that he was merely cleaning house and that this was found in the attic, and that one has to do this from time to time.

"One has to throw out certain equipment which has sort of outlived its usefulness," and this was his explanation for the pile of tables, discarded wheelchairs and old mattresses that we saw in the alley.

Now, one could make certain generalizations as to whether this was removed again to give a better appearance, but I am not in a position to say.

I will answer any questions the senators would like to direct toward me.

Senator PERCY. Did you have any knowledge at all of the flooding?

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. No.

Senator PERCY. Did you check on that at all?

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. No, sir, I had no knowledge of that.

Senator PERCY. Or the staff?

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. No, sir.

MISS ZEKMAN'S EXACT NOTE OF INCIDENT

Senator PERCY. I would like to put into the record the exact note made by-not from the newspaper story, but made by Miss Zekman the evening of the incident.

She said:

Later we were informed that the sewage pipes from the fifth floor on down clogged and had backed up. The water pipe had also apparently burst.

It took 12 men working many hours, to the tune of a total cost of $1,100, we were told, before the mess was straightened out.

Three hours after I got to work we were told that the water was safe. In the meantime, many patients had asked for water, and it took a great deal of effort to prevent them from drinking.

One man insisted that he was dying of thirst, and he had no dime for the coke machine.

I worked on this shift this time with a Gloria Johnson, who had been an aide at the home for 2 years, has 6 months to go to become has 6 months to go in school to become an LPN.

She said: "Daniel Slader must be splitting a gut over the accident."

She said, "He always gets mad when he has to spend money. He gets upset about anything that costs him money."

Now, that will complete the so-called overflow of the toilet, and if there is conflict of testimony, this is not, of course, testimony, but it is my reading of it into the record, the more complete notations that were made.

If it would serve any purpose we will try to pursue this, but I tend to think that corroborative evidence, though the task force that went to work on this undoubtedly became emotionally involved.

I hope that they were factual, and I have no reason to believe that they were not factual in what they were trying to portray, and though they became emotionally involved as a result of their revulsion at the practices that they found, that same revulsion has been experienced by me and others. This is not true of better than 50 to 60 nursing homes that I have been in across the State of Illinois.

I have found, for the most part, the ones that I have gone in, have been pretty good. They do not compare at all with some of the conditions that have been reported, and some of the conditions that I have seen myself recently.

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. I have one more comment, just to finish up what I started earlier, and that is in regard to my appearance at the nursing home the second time which would have been last Wednesday I believe, the 31st of March, to serve the subpoena.

Mr. Slader barred me at the door and indicated that since I had been through the facility once, there was no need of my coming in or even as far as his office.

He made us, shall I say-he indicated strongly that since it was a nice day he would like the subpoena served outside.

It was a windy day and one half of the subpoena was caught in the wind, and Bill Recktenwald had to chase it three or four blocks. I thought this was a discourtesy, not to even let us in the nursing home as far as his office.

One of the reasons he wouldn't let us in the nursing home was that there was major painting and construction going on in the foyer. At least that is the way it appeared from outside the nursing home.

Now, I don't know who you would allow into the nursing home. Perhaps the privacy of the patients could sometimes be breached. I don't know who you would allow to come and go, but I think you should include among those who should be admitted, the policemen, the fire department, the employees of the United States Senate, and maybe a few others, but then again, maybe Mr. Slader has a different opinion.

Senator PERCY. Would you care to comment on this testimony, Mr. Slader?

STATEMENT OF DANIEL A. SLADER-Continued

Mr. SLADER. Yes, sir, I would very much like to, if I may.

First of all, with respect to the statement made by the preceding witness as to his most recent visit:

I had, I believe, two groups of investigators on the premise at that time.

I had someone in my office whom I had been discussing a problem with, and I, at no time, ever received from Mr. Halamandaris, if I am pronouncing that correctly, any verification of the fact that he was a staff member of this committee.

He showed me a card the first time indicating he was an employee of the United States Senate.

He had no letter from Senator Moss or yourself, sir.

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. I had a subpoena.

Mr. SLADER. I am talking about the second visit, and I believe this. card is what he showed me the first time when I extended to him every possible courtesy the first time after having once obtained clearance from Mr. Sullivan.

I recall asking him, and I hope he will confirm this, just what it was that he wanted to see.

He did tell me, and I did show him through the nursing home.

At the conclusion of his visit, and I am referring to the first visit, I asked him, and I would like him to confirm or deny this too: that if there was anything else he cared to see and he indicated there was nothing else he cared to see, and that was the conclusion of that visit.

I believe I was polite to him. I believe I extended him every courtesy both as a person and as a staff member of this committee, and I intended to show him, and I did show him, everything the gentleman wanted to see.

I responded to his questions. I don't believe I was unreasonable.

THREE MEETINGS GOING ON AT TIME

With respect to the second visit, there was no appointment, ast there was in the first. I had three meetings going on at one time, and I thought it would be extremely difficult at that moment in time, Senator, to escort Mr. Halamandaris through the building a second time.

I would be glad to do it at any time. I would have been glad to do it later in the day, but at that particular moment in time I didn't feel that I could do justice to my other visitors.

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. I didn't ask to be escorted through the nursing home the second time.

Mr. SLADER. I assumed that is what you wanted.

Mr. HALAMANDARIS. All I said was, "May I see you a moment. I want to give you something." And you said, "Let's do it out here."

Mr. SLADER. Well, it was a nice day, Senator. It was a lovely day. Mr. SULLIVAN. I might say that the first visit, the delay was caused by my not being in the office when Mr. Slader's call came in. I told him after the Zekman incident, unless it was people that he knew, he was to check with me before he let people go around through the home, because it was a problem of newspaper reporters getting in there.

Then I did call back and I spoke with Mr. Halamandaris and he told me who he was and I had no doubt about the accuracy of his identification, and I told Mr. Slader, "Show him anything he wants to look at."