See the guy at the left?
His name is James Wright and he finally has been arrested and indicted on some gag-inducing charges stemming from his job as a nurse's aide in Bristol from 2000 to 2007.
Back in April, The Scene did a rather big story about this guy and his alleged molestation of patients at an elderly nursing home. It was a story with witnesses, affidavits and an administration who repeatedly ignored warnings about Wright. Today, The Scene was justifiably crowing about its role in bringing down Wright.
By the way, the nursing home is owned by Murfreesboro-based National Healthcare Corporation and the Tennessean reminds us the company also owned the Nashville nursing home where 16 residents died in a 2003 fire. Go back to the original Scene article where you will find that NHC spent some big money backing legislation, pushed by Murfreesboro State Senator Jim Tracy, to restrict punitive damages in cases just like the one in Bristol.
And if we may excerpt from that Scene article, here's a doozy about the fine folks at NHC:
The industry—and NHC in particular—are pleading poverty as their cause. In their PR campaign, nursing homes have argued that frivolous suits by out-of-state lawyers are diverting money from patient care and employee wages. If the industry has fallen on hard times, though, it isn't showing. The health-care lobby has given Tracy $23,000 in campaign contributions. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, NHC's political action committee spent $10,000 on Congressman Bart Gordon of Murfreesboro, and gave $84,000 in political contributions during 2008 to push its interests.
Moreover, NHC's ledgers look downright hearty. It's one of the 15 largest nursing home chains in the country, with about 60 facilities in Tennessee and others spread from Arizona to Florida. Since 2000, according to the corporation's own 10-k and the Tennessee Association for Justice, its net income has climbed to $43 million—a whopping 326-percent rise.
Excuse us, we think we need a shower.