My Mother's Eviction--An Update: Her former senior care facility was found in violation and ordered to pay a fine, but it is appealing the ruling.

• Author: Lueders, Bill

First of all, I'd like to thank the many readers and contributors to The Progressive who have expressed good wishes to my family and me regarding my mother, Elaine Benz, who, as I wrote in our February/March issue ("I Want to Go Home"), was evicted from her senior care residence in late October with no advance notice.

I also want to acknowledge the many people who have shared their stories, affirming that these evictions, which often violate state and federal law, happen all the time. "Sorry about what happened to your mom," one person wrote. "It happened to my mom too!" The details they shared are very similar.

Elaine is doing fine, about the same as she was before her senior care facility, the Regency of New Berlin, Wisconsin, kicked her out--just as her ability to pay in full was nearing an end. Our family gathered at her new home in mid-February to celebrate her ninety-eighth birthday. She enjoyed our visit, and we all had cake.

My sister, Diane, meanwhile, was ejected from the Regency on February 3, when she stopped by to give away the carrying bags she makes for residents' walkers, as she had done for the years our mom lived there. The campus administrator, Mara Henningsen, demanded that she leave the premises. This was a few days after Diane had dropped by and handed out copies of the magazine containing my article.

In late January, Henningsen sent a letter to residents. It read in part: "We have a compassionate and professional team. We understand that some of our residents will reach a point where they require care beyond what we can offer. This is what happened in a situation described in a recent article in The Progressive Magazine. This was a difficult time for the family involved, and we supported them as best we could."

Similar verbiage was offered up by ProHealth Care Inc., the Regency's "not-for-profit" owner, which made more than $100 million in "revenue-less expenses" in its latest reported fiscal year. "Regency residents sometimes reach a point where they require care beyond what Regency can offer," it said in a statement to Wisconsin Public Radio, which hosted me and one of the sources quoted in my story, Nicole Shannon of the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative, for its hour-long morning show. "At all times, families are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve," it claimed.

But in fact, the state of Wisconsin determined that the Regency was in the wrong, both in its assertions regarding Elaine's condition and in...