Wilbert Vreen, a 67-year-old resident of Gentle Care Assisted Living in Palm Coast, was arrested early Tuesday morning on allegations that he stabbed his roommate there. The roommate was treated and released from AdventHealth Palm Coast with non-life-threatening injuries, and returned to the facility.
J.D.N., the victim, had puncture wounds on his right arm, right thigh and right ankle, according to Vreen’s arrest report. J.D.N. told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies that he and Vreen share a room. Vreen, according to J.D.N.’s account, had been using the bathroom “too long,” and when he got out, J.D.N. told him to get back to the room. J.D.N. was in his bed, the lights were off, when Vreen allegedly grabbed what J.D.N. described as a blade and began stabbing his roommate.
J.D.N. defended himself with his walker before a staffer intervened. But J.D.N. didn’t tell her that he’d been stabbed until 30 minutes later. He was worried that if he did, he’d be expelled from the home.
The attendant told deputies that Vreen and J.D.N. “have had issues in the past,” that she’d heard him make death threats against J.D.N., and that Vreen “had been aggressive with other residents of the group home.”
Vreen faces a count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He was booked at the Flagler County jail, where he remains.
Gentle Care Assisted Living, at 27 Rolling Sands Dive, is a home-based facility licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration for six residents. The 2,000 square-foot property is owned by Emma Pronesti. Its current license was issued in April 2020, but expired in April 2022, and is currently listed as “in review” by the state’s profile of the facility.
Pronesti ran Loving Angels Assisted Living at 9 Ramble Way until 2021, according to state corporate records. In January 2022, the state revoked or denied renewing Loving Angels’ license. The Agency for Health Care Administration, which licenses assisted living facilities, did so after finding that “violation(s) of Medicaid policy constitute(s) fraud or abuse” under law.
In 2019, Gentle Care Assisted Living was the subject of two settlements with ACAH. It was fined $500 for failing to have an emergency plan in case of natural disasters, as required by an ACAH rule, and agreed in the settlement to paying $250. Later that year it paid $750 in a settlement agreement that had started with a potential $3,000 fine after inspections found flaws in the background screening of employees.
ASF says
I think Vreen might be the same guy who pepper-sprayed some young boys at a Daytona Beach apartment complex about ten year ago. One wonders how “placements” this guy has cycled in and out of.
Long time Palm Coaster says
Emma is the sweetest person in the world, especially when it comes to caring for her senior residence. My mother was in her care for many years. Emma would spend her days driving from group home to group home very hands on with her residence and staff. Not too many assisted living facility owners have the patience and caring personality to talk to each resident and make them feel special for living at the group home. Emma is the best in the business. Please don’t judge her from this article. And she had to shut down the other facility during covid because she couldn’t keep it full. Considering all the senior mental health issues honestly I’m surprised we don’t hear about this kind of thing more. They are seniors who by some family members have been just thrown away and sent to these facilities. When I walked into the facility to meet my mom, there would be several residence just coming up to me just to talk. Emma always made it a point to walk up to every person looking at them in the eye holding their hands and talking to them, making them feel special . Anyone who has ever had to go into an assisted living facility would instantly know just how special Emma is, and how lucky they are to have her in their lives. My mom always felt loved. She was a dementia patient that required 24 hr care. My mother was blessed to have such a loving warm hearted soul caring for her.
Mary says says
I’ve had experience with two assisted living facilities in Palm Coast. My mother was a resident in one in the P-section and my sister was in one in Matanzas Woods. They were single family homes converted to accommodate 6 residents. I speak from a lot of experience when I say these facilities were the worse. They pay minimum wage to their help. They buy generic cheap food. Some of their employees are well intentioned but they are overwhelmed. I found situations at both of these homes where only 1 aide was available to care for all 6 residents. I also found the one only aide sleeping, since some of the residents were ambulatory you can imagine the trouble they could have gotten into being unsupervised. My sister died in the Matanzas home with unstageable bedsores (the worse). At my mothers facility on the night she was dying I was sitting by her beside it was after midnight. The aide was asleep in a recliner. From my mothers room I heard a soft, weak, crying. I investigated and found another resident had fallen out of her bed. I helped her into bed. After my mother died I found out that resident who had fallen from her bed had been taken to the hospital and died a couple of days later. I could go on and on. Don’t put a family member in a facility like this if you can’t be there every day checking on them.
ASF says
I am so sorry for your loss.
Wow says
These small group homes can be good or horrible. My friend’s mom was in one and the aides were stealing her meds!
Better oversight is needed. But that requires more money and people would rather complain about taxes than make a safe place for seniors.
Some seniors have a lot of issues and the large residences won’t take them. What is the alternative?
D says
Gentle Care is one of the most long standing assisted living facilities in Palm Coast, and has been around for almost 20 years. Patients can be difficult, and its a miracle that the smaller assisted livings are willing to even consider taking patients that are like this. Although it’s unfortunate that this happened, this type of thing could have occurred at a bigger facility just as likely as the smaller facilities.
My mom was under the care of Emma and Gentle Care for 5 years, and as someone in healthcare, I can see how hard these residents can be to take care of. Gentle Care is a top notch ALF and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a place for their loved one.
Emma is THE sweetest woman I’ve ever met, and she was able to make my mom feel special and cared for. Please do more of a check on the resident, because from the looks of it, they probably weren’t in the right state of mind, which is probably why they were there in the first place.