Family says their father was neglected at Casa Grande nursing home

CASA GRANDE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- When you put a loved one in a nursing home, you expect they’ll be cared for, and the employees will clean their rooms and tend to their needs. But that’s not what a Pinal County family says they got. They were so disturbed by the conditions they filed a complaint with the state and reached out to Arizona’s Family.

“Here’s the room,” Cody Blackbird said during a TikTok video. He took out his cell phone and started recording when he went to pick up his father from the Garnet of Casa Grande last week. “This is how they left his cart, no one ever cleaned it for him. He’s left side paralyzed, he can’t clean on his own,” he explained on the video.

His father, Tom, said he’d been staying at that assisted living facility since September. The family explained they’d visited several homes, but this one stood out. “It was impressive. We walked in, and there was somebody playing piano,” Cody said. “Very nice dining facility, game room setup. Seemed to be clean.”

Arizona’s Family asked what the first signs were that something was off. “We would go in and there would be some urinals that would be filled up, hanging from his cart or sheets that weren’t changed,” Tom said. “When I mentioned to the caregivers about my urinals, that’s not my job. That’s the answer I got a lot.”

Cody said he didn’t realize how bad the conditions were until they moved their dad out last week. “You can hear sticky, that is sticky, that is urine,” Cody said in the TikTok. “The people who complained were ignored, so I kinda just started being quiet,” Tom said.

Cody said he confronted the managers there, but they didn’t take him seriously. “These are our loved ones, these are our elders, and we can’t leave them to be treated that way,” Cody said.

Arizona’s Family stopped by the Garnet and asked for a manager. “No comment, OK,” a woman who identified herself as a manager replied.

The Department of Health Services oversees and licenses nursing homes. They couldn’t say if they were investigating the Garnet. Those previous violations include providing inadequate care for skin rashes and service plans. State law fines to $500 per violation per day.

Tom is back at home with his sons. They’re speaking out because they said they don’t want others to go through what their dad experienced.

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