Hearthstone residents voice their frustrations over bed bugs

With an alarmingly high percentage of assisted living and nursing homes shuttering across the state, housing is a major issue for many elderly and disabled adults. Residents of Hearthstone in Anaconda, however, say that bed bugs have turned the facility from a viable option into a nightmare.

Mandy Maxwell, a resident of eight months, explained, “I have chronic PTSD, that’s how I got in there.” 

Maxwell blew the whistle on the ongoing problem at the facility to a local TV station that recently ran a story addressing the widespread concerns. 

“It’s horrible. Since the news I still have them, nothing has changed. Now they’re just retaliating on us,” Maxwell said. “Every day I have a new bite. I have scars. I went to sleep in my car because of it. Maintenance knew and still didn’t do an inspection. Before that I told them, they made jokes about it. I said this isn’t funny. They tried to convince me it was a spider bite. Back in October they tried to convince me that it was hives from my medication.”

“Now, the Metcalf Center can’t pick people up because they have bugs,” Maxwell continued. “Another lady can’t go to the doctor now, so these disabled people are getting discriminated on. I reported it because people are afraid. There’s a woman that can’t get her cataract surgery because of it.” 

The woman she’s referring to is Sharon Hill, who is in her 80s and confined to a wheelchair.

“I don’t have them, I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Hill of the bed bugs. “But it affects me because no one wants to visit, no one wants me to visit. The senior citizen bus, from the Metcalf Center, would take us to the grocery store for one hour on Thursdays. That’s my great outing of the week, and I get my groceries, but they won’t pick us up anymore. It’s awkward for me to get to Albertson’s in the wheelchair. I’ve done it a few times, but the charge on my battery is done for by the time I get down there so I don’t know if I’ll get home or not.”

She moved to Anaconda three-and-a-half years ago from another state and doesn’t know anyone here. She has tried to venture downtown, but said she finds that most of the businesses aren’t accessible and she “takes her life in her hands” trying not to fall getting through the doors. 

Another resident, 77-year-old Rayna Perrone, has lived at Hearthstone since 2011. On May 22 of this year she was scheduled to get cataract surgery, but the appointment was canceled because she had bed bug bites all over her. On April 17, 2023 they did spray, and three weeks later she had them again. She even had to dispose of furniture that she’s had for 20 years.

“My healthcare giver got bit so bad she ended up in the ER,” Perrone said. “We the residents have always been blamed for having them. We are so frustrated. I hope I do not get an eviction notice because I’m speaking out. When we go to the bed bug meetings it is always our fault that we have them. I’ve always followed the rules and my apartment is tidy.”

Her concern of retaliation appears to be a universal theme amongst the residents who have spoken out. Hearthstone staff denied any reprisal and insist that they’ve spent thousands of dollars to extinguish the problem.

“They’ve never been eradicated. Through the years many agencies have tried to help us get rid of them. For example, Senior Protective Services, mental health, A+ Healthcare, and others. They’ve all been told that Hearthstone sprays. Yes, the maintenance man sprays, but to no avail.” Perrone said. “They tell us at the meetings, don’t let anybody come into your apartment if you know they have bed bugs. The thing of it is, they’re all over the building. The last maintenance man told us they’re living in the bricks, and each hallway on each floor has brick walls.”

According to the Hearthstone bed bug policy, last printed on 4-14-2015, bed bugs are considered a pest of significant public health importance by the EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The presence of bed bugs is also a source of stress, embarrassment and anxiety. It is our intention to prevent bed bug infestations whenever possible, and to control and eradicate them quickly when they do occur,” the policy states.

The one time that Hill’s apartment was sprayed they had her move all her furniture out from the walls. 

“That’s super hard for me. I have bookshelves all around my apartment and they’re full of books. But they’re cheap, and if you move them when they’re full they’ll fall to pieces. So I have to move all the books off, move the shelf, wait for them to spray, move the shelves back and put all the books back. That’s hard, I’m 80-something years old. Truly, they should help certain people,” Hill said. “If they want to spray an apartment they insist they can spray it, but now they have decided that we have to ask to be sprayed, and then they come and if they don’t find a bug they won’t spray. It is hard, but you have to do something to solve the problem. They’ll say 'we’re doing everything we can.' No they’re not or they wouldn’t still have bed bugs after 8 or 10 years.”

According to a National Institutes of Health independent study, “In some individuals, psychological sequelae resulting from bed bug biting events include nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance (to keep the bugs away), insomnia, anxiety, avoidance behaviors, and personal dysfunction. These symptoms are suggestive of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” The study found that out of the 135 postings that were read and analyzed, 110 (81%) reported psychological effects from bed bug infestations. 

One resident, who spoke with the Anaconda Leader on the condition of anonymity, stated, “Last summer there was one man in here who was very disabled and they made him sit by himself in the dining room because he had them crawling all over him. He had them so bad that they threatened to pull up a truck and throw everything that belongs to him out. He’s been treated so bad.”

Family members of residents are also speaking out, including Candy Burch who spoke of her father’s experience at Hearthstone before he moved out of the property two months ago.

“He got sick [from bugs] and ended up in the hospital and he got MRSA. He had a sore and I guess they were eating it. He ended up in the hospital and he was really sick and I told him he couldn’t go back there. He ended up in the nursing home. I didn’t want to touch the mattress or nothing because when I went there to get stuff out of the refrigerator it was loaded with bed bugs. They kept sending me notices saying they were gonna charge me for moving stuff into storage, and I was like, 'I’m not touching it,'” Burch said.

Burch said her father still experiences psychological trauma related to the experience.

“He’s still afraid of the bedbugs up there. I tell him there’s no bed bugs up there [at the nursing home]. He sees a bug and he’s like, 'oh there was a bug up here, could it be a bed bug?' I say 'I don’t think so.' Something has to be done up there, the bed bugs are out of control,” she said.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “While bed bugs have not been shown to transmit disease, they do cause a variety of negative physical health, mental health and economic consequences. Some of these effects include: Allergic reactions to their bites, which can be severe, including anaphylaxis, Secondary infections of the skin from the bite reaction, such as impetigo, ecthyma, and lymphangitis, and finally, mental health impacts on people living in infested homes. Reported effects include anxiety, insomnia and systemic reactions.”

Hearthstone's resident service coordinator, the site manager, and their property management company, Tamarack, did not respond to a request for information at the time of publication. Several residents disclosed that they were instructed not to speak to the press. Those same residents stated that there were retaliatory actions when they did speak out, which included intimidation and threats of eviction from the facility staff. Tamarack, who declined to comment, was rated one out of five stars on 20 out of 39 online reviews, with many alleging a lack of professional management and little to no communication.