Employee charged in drug theft at Montgomery senior living facility

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - An employee at a Montgomery senior living facility has been charged with stealing drugs and other items from the facility, the Montgomery Police Department confirmed.

A medical cart was stolen around midnight on Oct. 14 at Elmcroft Senior Living. Among the items reported stolen were narcotics, radios, a television, a VCR, and office equipment, according to the incident-offense report. When investigators arrived they found no signs of forced entry.

Tina Hall, 44, is charged with first degree theft of property, according to MPD Capt. Regina Duckett.

Hall was taken into custody Monday and transported to the Montgomery County Detention Facility. She was placed under a $15,000 bond.

The Alabama Department of Public Health confirmed in October it was reviewing the incident.

Elmcroft’s ownership group, Eclipse Senior Living, failed to answer a number of WSFA 12 News’ questions about the company’s protocols for managing controlled substances and prescriptions, the number of patients impacted, and how they catalog patients’ medications.

The facility is currently under a consent order with the Alabama Department of Public Health following the death of an 83-year-old resident who was left in a facility van for six hours in June.

The Alabama Department of confirmed it was in negotiations with Eclipse Senior Living, giving them the option to sell the facility or close.

ADPH did not elaborate on the theft incident at Elmcroft nor its potential to impact the purchase agreement.