TEXAS CITY, Texas — At least two employees of a Texas City nursing home have been fired after a video showed an 87-year-old resident being hit, kicked and dragged by employees.
Solidago Health and Rehabilitation said an internal investigation was initially launched against the employees and they were immediately suspended. As a result of the investigation, the employees were later fired for "violating the company's policies."
"We have no tolerance for behavior that jeopardizes the health and safety of our residents, and all violations of our policies are addressed appropriately. Our thoughts remain with the resident and his family during this difficult time," Solidago Health and Rehabilitation wrote in a statement.
Lizandro Solis said his 87-year-old grandfather, Cornelio Salinas, has been telling his family about the abuse at the nursing home for years.
The family never had proof until Sunday when a surveillance camera caught two employees hitting and kicking Salinas who was on the floor. They were then seen dragging him back to his bed before one of the employees closed the curtain, hiding everything that happened after that.
“We got a phone call that our grandpa was going to the hospital because he supposedly fell out the bed," Solis said. “We saw the bruising around his eyes and he was in a neck brace so we went back on the ring camera, and we saw what happened."
Solis said they installed a camera outside Salinas' room about a year or two ago. They cried after watching the video.
"We were angry. We wanted to go do something, but what can you do?" Solis said.
The family ultimately wants the employees to be charged and the facility to be shut down.
“We don’t even know how long that has been happening, or if anybody else is going through it," Solis said.
As of Monday, Salinas was still in the hospital. His family said they are working on finding him a new home.
Texas City police said a police report has been filed and they are investigating. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services is also investigating. They released the following statement:
"HHSC is aware of the allegations involving this nursing facility and we are actively investigating to determine compliance with all relevant health and safety rules. Once our regulatory investigation work is complete, the final report for the investigation will be available to request through our open records process."