Woman ‘heartbroken’ over treatment of twin sister at assisted living center

Elizabeth Delaware spent much of the time in tears as she relayed her emotions when she learned what happened to her 89-year-old twin sister Gloria Traylor.

About four years ago, Traylor began showing signs of dementia and up to that point, the two were inseparable. Even though they lived in different parts of the state, the sisters unknowingly purchased identical-looking homes. Dementia broke that sisterly bond.

Now Delaware is even more heartbroken.

Traylor, along with 15 other elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s, were given just 36 hours to leave Rudy’s Agape House assisted living facility last week, leaving the patients confused and family members’ lives in a physical and emotional upheaval.

“I was shocked, dumbfounded and horrified at what happened to my sister,” said Delaware, who lives in Pennsylvania now but visits her sister about four times a year. “We weren’t even notified. I tried to call my sister last weekend and the number was disconnected. I didn’t know if my sister was alive or dead.”

Rudy’s administrator, Nancy Cushman, told family members they were all being evicted by the landlord, but it was only Cushman who was being evicted after she stopped paying rent in October. Cushman had been undergoing the eviction process since February and yet never told the family members of those living in her facility.

The landlord had made arrangements for the residents to stay with a new certified administrator, but Cushman didn’t tell relatives while she still collected their rent payments on March 1.

“I just didn’t know,” Delaware said. “God forbid, I just thought something horrible happened. There are no words to describe how heartbroken I am. It shocks me what happened to my sister. I believe in God, but the day of judgment will come for this woman.”

Cushman also applied for a new license under Rudy’s Agape House II in June, suggesting she had planned to close down her original place at 5426 18th St. W. in favor of a smaller facility at 2104 55th Ave. W. And yet, still the family members never knew.

“(Cushman) deserves jail time, a fine or something, but she definitely should not be allowed to open another place after what she did,” Delaware said. “I think the state should step in now before she takes in anymore people and does what she did to these innocent victims. It’s very upsetting. It’s disgraceful.”

The family has since spoken to Traylor at her new location at The Cottages of Bradenton, said Traylor’s niece, Linda Sarine.

“She was very confused, but fortunately wasn’t too aware of what happened to her,” Sarine said.

Delaware said it was upsetting enough to visit her sister in what she called “filthy conditions. It wasn’t a nice place in my estimation.”

Cushman closed her Rudy’s Agape House license on March 13, three days after being evicted. But her Rudy’s Agape House II license remains active. The Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Children and Families have both opened investigations. That investigation is ongoing, but the state has given no indication that Cushman’s license will be suspended or revoked at this time.

“I just don’t believe it,” Delaware said. “I pray to God she is stopped. She’s not fit to open another place.”

This story was originally published March 17, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Woman ‘heartbroken’ over treatment of twin sister at assisted living center."