A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a north Austin nursing home employee accused of hitting a 90-year-old woman who wet her bed.
Carly Vondra, 44, faces a charge of injury to a disabled individual, a second-degree felony.
On May 12, 2017, Austin police officers were called to Gracy Woods I Nursing Home at 12021 Metric Blvd., near Parmer Lane, for the report of an assault. A 90-year-old patient told her physical therapist that she had been assaulted by a nursing home employee during the night.
“The new girl beat me,” the woman told a detective. Vondra allegedly became upset that her patient wet the bed and turned the woman onto her stomach, hitting her back several times.
Afraid of returning to the nursing home, the victim gave a description of the employee to police. Nursing home staff learned the certified nursing assistant (CNA) caring for the victim the night of the incident was Vondra. The victim’s daughter showed her mother a Facebook photo of Vondra, which the victim confirmed to be a photo of the woman who hurt her.
Police say a couple days after the alleged assault, the victim had trouble walking, so her family took her to a local hospital. Detectives say it could not be medically determined if her difficulty walking was a result of the incident.
Bond for Vondra has been set at $20,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, she was not in the Travis County Jail.
Texas Department of Public Safety records show Vondra has been arrested three times since 2014, all on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespass.
An administrator at Gracy Woods Nursing Home declined to comment on the situation.
According to online state records, Gracy Woods Nursing Home has an overall rating from Texas Health and Human Services of 56 out of 100. The statewide average is 59.
The 118-bed facility has been found to be out of compliance with regulations at various times in the past three years, but the state noted that the severity of deficiencies were “minimal harm or potential for actual harm.”
The nursing home participates in Medicare and Medicaid. According to Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare website, the Gracy Woods Nursing Home has an overall rank of two out of five stars, based on health inspection, staffing and quality measures.
