Relatives paid tens of thousands for the house, and the elderly had to clean it themselves

It attracts luxurious conditions to its customers, but many testimonies speak of neglect of care. Seznam Zprávy drew attention to the sad conditions in the Hvězda home for the elderly in the center of Zlín in a series of articles. The SZ reporter now recounts the case from the beginning.

Does anyone have current personal experience with the Hvězda house? This relatively mundane question, asked on Facebook by one of the users, eventually led to a series of Seznam Práv articles about the sad conditions in the nursing home in the center of Zlín. Former employees and relatives of his clients described to the authors about inadequate health care, poor sanitary conditions or poor nutrition.

“All these complaints, according to their authors, are related to the fact that Hvězda has a long-term base and high staff turnover,” he says in the 5:59 podcast. Seznam Zpráv reporter Jan Novák. Slynn went to check on the situation when she noticed people responding to the aforementioned Facebook question with dozens of comments. Almost all portrayed conditions at home in a very negative light.

Reports Novak later received from family members of Hvězda customers and its former employees confirmed the suspicions. Most of the respondents spoke on condition of anonymity, but Chesnum Spruvey knows their names. Criticisms are often aimed at ignoring the care that Hvězda elderly people should have received.

For example, one complainant recounted to the reporter that when his grandfather fell on the way to the toilet, caregivers picked him up and placed him on the bed. She had major bruises on her body and a broken toe, but her granddaughter herself, later called by one of the house’s customers, discovered it. Others spoke of the fact that the trash cans weren’t picked up at home for a week, papers and food wrappers were left on the floor, or customers were served food of a lower quality than what was on the official menu. .

Some former employees – often on condition of anonymity – confirm poor conditions. “They told me that the cleaning service was not working properly, that there was a floor, and that they were not getting paid. They also admitted that they treated the customers badly, and they mentioned that they were stealing food, clothes and valuables. Certainly not the people I spoke to – they were their colleagues at the time. They were talking about the staff,” Novak says.

In addition to complaints about conditions at home, the reporter encountered another problem. According to witnesses, the payment of a “sponsor’s donation” should have been a condition for accepting a new client into the house. The sums ranged from 40,000 to 80,000 crowns. Cesnum Sprava has relevant documents like signatures of donation agreements.

Zlínská Hvězda is a private facility that, in addition to a home for the elderly, also includes a home with a special regime and hospice care. In total, it cares for 59 elderly people, mostly with chronic mental or physical illnesses.

The house is run by Miroslava Kalivotova. The director dismisses doubts about the quality of care. “They didn’t believe the statements of the people I interviewed personally. He didn’t believe the dozens of specific comments. They were either complainants from the ranks of rejected customers or former employees who allegedly had problems with alcohol,” the reporter describes.

Kalivotova denies that it is necessary to make a “sponsorship” contribution. This is despite the fact that this position was mentioned several times by an extra phone who pretended to be interested in keeping Grandma at home. According to the director, there was a misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, Novak approached an attorney and a representative of the Association of Social Service Providers with documents and a recorded call. According to them, the condition of handing over the gift – apart from being unethical – violates the law.

Although the problematic conditions at Hvězda’s house have been talked about in Zlín for some time, interest in his services continues. How to explain it? According to Novak, this is a result of, among other things, insufficient capacity in housing for the elderly. The need is huge.

“Those people somehow got into a situation where they damaged the reputation of Hvězda, or they had no choice. I heard from relatives of clients that they themselves helped with cleaning, feeding, etc. They really did the service that the house should provide,” says the journalist.

In the 5:59 podcast, you’ll also learn how politicians react to finding a list of reports about the conditions in the Hvězda home and why the government didn’t intervene earlier. Listen to it in the player at the beginning of the article.