{"id":4398,"date":"2017-08-08T01:11:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T05:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/?p=4398"},"modified":"2017-08-08T01:16:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T05:16:43","slug":"ortley-beach-womans-7-year-fight-for-elder-abuse-protection-results-in-new-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/2017\/08\/ortley-beach-womans-7-year-fight-for-elder-abuse-protection-results-in-new-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Ortley Beach Woman’s 7 Year Fight for Elder Abuse Protection Results in New Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peggy<\/a>

Peggy Marzolla, after suffering injuries in 2010. (Photo: Maureen Persi)<\/p><\/div>\n

Seven years of negotiations, calls to legislators and even roadside protests have come to an end for Maureen Persi, who has been fighting day-in and day-out for stiffer laws to protect the elderly since her mother died Aug. 4, 2010 after allegedly being abused by the staff of a local nursing facility.<\/p>\n

Her mother, Peggy Marzolla, who worked until age 81 for the Paterson, N.J. police department, died 65 days later after being rushed to Ocean Medical Center. When Persi arrived at the hospital after receiving a call from the staff at Brandywine Senior Living in Brick, she found her mother covered in bruises, with a\u00a0broken eye socket, broken cheekbone, broken jaw, broken wrist and welts on her back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Peggy<\/a>

Peggy Marzolla, after suffering injuries in 2010. (Photo: Maureen Persi)<\/p><\/div>\n

Staff at the nursing facility told Persi her mother had slipped on powder in a bathroom and fell backward, causing her injuries. But Persi never believed the explanation. A lawsuit filed by Persi against Brandywine was settled out of court.<\/p>\n

Persi, after seeing her mother\u2019s injuries, said she was shocked at how the elderly could slip through the cracks in New Jersey. Instead of the local police department investigating charges of abuse or assault, elderly people in nursing homes and other medical facilities fell under the jurisdiction of the\u00a0little-known Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, which Persi said put her on a waiting list after she reported what happened to her mother.<\/p>\n

The eventual investigation by the Ombudsman\u2019s office did not resut in any criminal charges being filed in the case, nor any sanctions against Brandywine. What Persi saw as the office\u2019s backlogs and overtaxed staff led her to fight for reforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbuse is abuse, whether it be domestic violence, a child or an elderly person,\u201d said Persi, who began fighting for a change in state law to allow police and local authorities to investigate cases of potential abuse. \u201cI am not a person who can deal easily with things that are wrong in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Persi, a retired teacher and elementary school principal who is a longtime resident of Ortley Beach, faced hurdles from legislators and a powerful lobbying group that represents nursing facilities. Peggy\u2019s Law, which is based on legislation enacted in many other states, including Florida, even had its fines decreased for violators after state Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), a medical doctor, objected to the original penalties, Persi said.<\/p>\n

But on Monday, Gov. Chris Christie signed the reform act into law, named for Peggy Marzolla.<\/p>\n

Peggy\u2019s Law, sponsored by Sen. James Holzapfel (R-Ocean)\u00a0requires any caretaker, social worker, physician, nurse or other staff member of a care facility who has \u201creasonable cause to suspect that an elderly person is being abused or exploited,\u201d to report it to local law enforcement. It also requires them to report such incidents to the Ombudsman of the Institutionalized Elderly within certain periods of time depending on the kind of abuse.<\/p>\n

\"Peggy<\/a>

Peggy Marzolla (Photo: Maureen Persi)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen families put their loved ones in the care of a nursing home or other assisted living facility, they expect that they\u2019ll be treated properly and with respect,\u201d Holzapfel said. \u201cIf an employee of one of these homes even has the slightest suspicion that something might be awry, it should be their duty to report it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Monday, the state\u2019s laws governing elder abuse cases had not been updated since 1987.<\/p>\n

Persi, her mother\u2019s only child, said now that Peggy\u2019s Law has been enacted, she will continue fighting against elder abuse, including what she sees as an upcoming battle to maintain a family\u2019s right to sue facilities in civil court for abuse cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother would be so proud, but she\u2019d be laughing,\u201d Persi said. \u201cShe knew how I could hound someone to death.\u00a0My mom would be saying, \u2018better them than me that you hounded!'\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven years of negotiations, calls to legislators and even roadside protests have come to an end for Maureen Persi, who has been fighting day-in and day-out for stiffer laws to protect the elderly since her mother died Aug. 4, 2010 after allegedly being abused by the staff of a local nursing facility. Her mother, Peggy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,92],"tags":[1203,19,1204,1202],"class_list":["post-4398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ortley-beach","tag-maureen-persi","tag-ortley-beach-nj-news","tag-peggy-marzolla","tag-peggys-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/601947_452254804786143_1218067486_n.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgsn9q-18W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}