Do you have a family member who is looked after by PeopleCare and went to Golden Corral as part of Class 33 on 24 April 2024?

30 April 2024, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – El Paso is a hotbed for medical-themed businesses. It could be the lax enforcement of existing licensing laws or a simple fact that no matter what happens, it’s brushed off the ubiquitous, “It’s El Paso; what did you expect?”

On 23 April 2024, I will have an early lunch at the Golden Corral on Transmountain. As I am sitting there with one other person, just really getting started, a woman is dragged by our table and dropped on the floor. The other woman with her starts crying for help.

The lady that was lying on the floor was choking to death. Her lips turned blue when I reached down to help her; she was cold in the face. Another man stepped in to start the symbolic maneuver. 

The manager of Golden Corrall told an employee to call 911 just as I said the person I was with to do the same. 

That first call reached 911 at 1114 hrs, and we will discuss that call and how dispatch handled it. Still, I want to talk about the other lady, the one who was dragging a sixty-year-old woman with obvious mental disabilities from one end of the restaurant to the bathrooms, and why she was not doing anything to render aid first.

Standing in a red shirt proclaiming she works for PeopleCare, the woman went from asking for help to begging people to stop calling 911. 

“I work for a company,” is all she would say, “But, I work for a company, they know.” 

I work for a company became a mantra for her, a prayer that if said enough, all of what is happening would go away, and the world would be back to how it was before they arrived at Golden Corral. 

“Please, don’t,” she pleaded, “I work for a company.”

The woman she is supposed to be caring for is lying on the floor, choking, and all this woman can do is beg people to hang up on 911 because she works for a company. 

PeopleCare, Inc., from what we can locate under publicly accessible records, is categorized as a Community Action Agency. Records show it was established in 2003 and incorporated in TX. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $2,540,608 and employs a staff of approximately 25.

The only public-facing website, https://www.peoplecare-ep.com/, comes back saying access is forbidden. 

According to the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, PeopleCare is listed as ENVOLVE PEOPLE CARE, INC. on tax documents. It is listed as Right to Transact Business in Texas: FRANCHISE TAX ENDED.

The DBA with the County of El Paso also shows the company as an inactive Limited Partnership. The common name between both forms is James E. Bean. 

Here is where I am having issues with what I witnessed and what I’ve since discovered. 

PeopleCare, People Care, or Envolve People Care, Inc. does not hold a searchable, verifiable license to do anything in Texas.  

The corporation was first registered in Delaware, a tax haven for corporations seeking to fatten their bottom line. It was then moved to the State of Texas and listed as a foreign corporation. This is not all too uncommon. Even the Jerusalem Press follows the same path. 

Let’s look at what PeopleCare does; they care for older and mentally disabled individuals daily. These people will have special needs and more specialized care than most. Let’s say PeopleCare is an adult daycare facility. 

Under the Texas Administrative Code, LT daycares must meet specific licensing requirements. These include, but are not limited to, nursing services and providing or supervising personal care services to enable the individual to restore, maintain, or improve his ability to perform personal care tasks. Group and individual exercises, which I’m sure a van load of individuals going to Golden Corrall qualifies as, or at least fits the requirement for one hot meal served between 1100 and 1300 hrs daily.

The regulation is embedded below:

Brought to you by The Jerusalem Press

Let’s look at nursing services. 

PeopleCare took a van load of elderly and disabled individuals from Founders Bulvovard to Golden Corral on Transmountain for lunch. These people, known by PeopleCare as Class 33, were provided ample supervision by a driver and one companion. 

According to the restaurant staff, twelve people had lunch at their tables that day. The driver and the lady we are writing about are eating, distracted, and don’t notice a sixty-year-old woman placing far too much food into her mouth. She begins to choke. Rather than provide immediate aid, it was decided by this “healthcare aid” to drag this choking woman 114 feet from her table and drop her on the floor next to our table.

After crying for help, and between the demands we do not call 911, the PeopleCare employee said she was taking her to the restroom. Someone’s grandmother is choking to death, and PeopleCare seemingly teaches their employees to drag those in their care to the restroom.

According to the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, “employees providing respite, residential habilitation, day habilitation, assisted living/supervised living, or intervener must be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, and the Heimlich maneuver.” 

There is more. According to Tammy, the representative we spoke to at DADS, “all employees who have day-to-day contact with those utilizing services, such as from the agency you mentioned, must receive training in CPR/Heimlich maneuver before assuming their duties.” 

I visited PeopleCare the day this incident happened. I was promised that someone, the President of PeopleCare or the Public Information Officer, would contact me. After leaving several voicemails, I am still waiting to hear back from someone. 

As I explained to PeopleCare, a reporter’s primary job is to correct a problem before bringing it to the public’s attention. I learned, after all, that we are problem solvers. I wanted answers, and I needed to solve this problem. 

I spoke to Lori at PeopleCare. I was trying to press for answers, and the deflection I first received was offputting. On the window, next to the receptionist, was a calendar that showed Class 33 from PeopleCare was to be at Golden Corral on Transmountain that morning.

When I asked about the standard procedure, as you can hear from the audio, Lori answered, “I wasn’t there.” 

The companies we allow to care for your elders require more oversight and accountability. Anyone—you, me, or even Bob down the street—can open an adult daycare, and the State of Texas will toss money your way. It’s an easy way to enrich yourself at the expense of taxpayers and clients. 

Why are there no minimum standards for how many companions accompany a group of individuals on outside excursions? Why was a woman who does not know CPR or the Heimlich maneuver allowed to work for PeopleCare?

I also want to know why there is zero public information available for licensing for PeopleCare or whatever name they are using now, as their legal name is now fair game for anyone who wants it. Why is there no mechanism for the State of Texas to be automatically when a place, such as PeopleCare, seemingly loses its ability to conduct business in Texas or under a particular business name?

My final thoughts concern dispatch and the El Paso Police Department. On this day, when the calls to 911 came in and FMS was dispatched, no one from the El Paso Police Department responded to the call for a welfare check. Why? 

24 April 2024 was another day that the Northeast Regional Command was short-staffed. According to records provided to the Jerusalem Press, only two (2) marked units were on the streets of Northeast El Paso that day.

As for El Paso Fire Rescue 16, great job! I saw the disappointment on your faces as you were blocked from providing care beyond checking your blood pressure. With luck, PeopleCare and services like them will be held accountable.