Amidst employee complaints, the administrator of an Ozaukee County-operated senior living facility has been terminated

Alex Groth, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Tom Weber, 65, looks at his wife Lorri Weber from his second-story window as she makes bubbles while visiting with her and family outside his window at Lasata Senior Living Campus in Cedarburg on Sunday, April 5, 2020. Due to the coronavirus assisted living facilities have been closed to visitors requiring loved ones to visit from windows of the facility. Tom Weber, 65, was diagnosed at age 48 with a form of dementia called Early Onset Frontal Temporal Lobe Dementia. Before spending his last three years at Lasata, he was at Elizabeth Residence in Bayside for 12 years. Photo by MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL ORG XMIT: DBY1

The head of the Ozaukee County-operated nursing home Lasata Senior Living Campus was terminated on Feb.1, confirmed County Administrator Jason Dzwinel.

Pat Brown was terminated due to her job performance which had been under review since 2022.

"My goal in any performance review is to provide any opportunity for growth after issues are identified and as we worked through the review I decided the time had come to part ways," Dzwinel said in a statement.

The performance issues were unrelated to any issues with care and attendance of the residents, said Dzwinel.

"Despite the challenges with staffing throughout the skilled care industry post COVID, I am very proud of our staff and the hard work that they put in during these times caring for the most deserving among us," he added.

The campus, at W76 N677 W677 Wauwatosa Road in Cedarburg, includes a nursing home, assisted living facility and apartment building for independent seniors. Brown was hired in Nov. 2021 at the recommendation of the former campus administrator and assumed the role in April 2022.

The decision to terminate Brown comes as three individuals criticized the facility during the Feb. 1 Ozaukee County Board meeting. Former employees voiced concerns about the administration and the standard of care for residents at the facility.

"Our residents deserve better," said Tanya Bierman at the meeting. The county declined to provide more specific details.

The county is actively recruiting to fill the administrator role, said Dzwinel. The county has contracted a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator in place since the date of termination.

Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ozaukee County terminates Lasata Senior Living Campus administrator