St. Cloud group home fined $1,200 for wheelchair mishap

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has fined the license holder of a St. Cloud group home for people with disabilities after a vulnerable adult fell out of a wheelchair while being transported in a van.

According to documents released Tuesday by DHS, Eriksmoen Cottages — which operates a facility at 1530 Oxford Lane — was fined $1,200 for the incident, which occurred May 22. The vulnerable adult, a paraplegic with multiple sclerosis, was not properly secured and fell out of a wheelchair when a transport van went through a roundabout.

The vulnerable adult suffered an abrasion and small laceration but denied pain and declined transport to the hospital. DHS determined the action of a staff person who failed to secure the vulnerable adult constituted neglect, resulting in a $1,000 fine. An additional $200 fine was added because mandated reporters at the facility knew what happened but did not inform DHS.