Inspector sees state action as retaliation

By Kay Lazar

 | Globe Staff   October 15, 2014

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A state worker who inspects assisted-living facilities said his bosses placed him on paid administrative leave Tuesday in retaliation for speaking to the Globe and other media about the Patrick administration’s failure to investigate serious incidents at assisted-living centers.

Peter Antonellis, a compliance officer at the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, said he was handed a letter saying he is being investigated for multiple instances of “potentially inappropriate and unprofessional conduct.” He said he was asked to gather his personal belongings and leave the office.

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Antonellis, 64, said that when he asked supervisors what conduct had triggered the action, he was not given details.

“What really makes my blood boil is my colleagues and I have been complaining for the last six years about this program and not once has the department gathered us in a room to address our complaints,” Antonellis said.

A Globe story last month quoted Antonellis about his concerns regarding the agency’s oversight of assisted-living facilities. He said that the office has just two ombudsmen to handle thousands of complaints that pour in each year involving assisted-living residences and that the agency did not have the staff to regulate the apartment-like facilities for older adults.

Antonellis also told the Globe he had repeatedly alerted his superiors that reports of serious incidents at such facilities were languishing for weeks or months at the agency and that no one seemed to be analyzing them for patterns pointing to larger issues.

Two days after that story appeared, state regulators acknowledged during an Assisted Living Advisory Council meeting that they are still working out bugs in a year-old computerized data-collection system. That system does not yet record the consequence of incidents at the state’s 222 assisted-living residences, nor actions taken by the facilities or state regulators to correct problems.

Antonellis said he intends to hire a lawyer to fight the state’s action.

Patrick administration spokesman Alec Loftus said in a statement that Antonellis “has been placed on paid administrative leave while we investigate a potential health information privacy violation.”

Kay Lazar can be reached at Kay.Lazar@globe.com.

The Price of Liberty

The Price of Liberty


In July of 1776 fifty six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Though we commemorate this day, most of us know little about these men or what happened after they signed.

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:

"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

We didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time. We fought against our government for the right to create a new government.

As we celebrate America, remember the price of American freedom. And remember that we have that freedom because, in part, we were willing to sacrifice our safety, our security, our fortunes and our lives.
 
Editor's note: The corrupt slime on the 18th floor of the Daley Court House is a sick result of those patriotic sacrifices. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com