Ex-Johnson County nursing home employee accused of financial crimes involving seniors
A former financial employee for Villa St. Francis Nursing Home in Olathe is accused of stealing from several elderly residents while she worked there.
Patricia Ann Myler, 39, is charged in Johnson County District Court with seven counts of mistreating an elder person, six counts of identity theft and three computer crimes, prosecutors announced Monday. In all, Myler faces 15 felonies and one misdemeanor.
The crimes allegedly occurred at Villa St. Francis between July 2019 and December 2020. In three of the cases, the amount in question was somewhere between $25,000 and $100,000, court records state.
Defense attorney Brandan Davies, who is representing Myler in the case, said his law firm is investigating the allegations and declined to comment further.
The full scope of the investigation remains unclear. But authorities have identified at least seven victims, named in court records only by initials, who range in age from 65 to 94.
Rodney Whittington, the chief executive officer for Villa St. Francis, said during a phone interview Monday that Myler worked in the nursing home’s billing department for approximately 18 months. Her duties there placed her in charge of handling billing for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
In December 2020, Myler announced that she was leaving that job for another opportunity, Whittington said. Her exit prompted an internal review of Myler’s work, Whittington said, which revealed evidence of financial irregularities that was then forwarded to law enforcement for further investigation.
Whittington said Villa St. Francis has been independently audited twice, and further reviews of its processes were done by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services. No faults were discovered during those reviews, he said.
Whittington said the current case resulted from a person with authority and access being “abusive.”
“When somebody has authority and access and wants to be abusive, they can,” Whittington said, adding: “I don’t think this is anything to make people not trust the facility they’re working with, or ours, for that matter. But there are certain times that those things are abused. And unfortunately, this was one of them.”
Prosecutors say the investigation of Myler is ongoing. Investigators are also reviewing other work she performed during her time at AdventHealthCare Center in Overland Park between June 2018 and February 2019.
The prosecutor’s office is encouraging anyone who noticed financial irregularities while residing at either facility during the time Myler worked there to contact the Johnson County District Attorney’s White Collar Crime Hotline at 913-715-3140.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 5:39 PM.
