Upstate nurses arrested after allegedly failing to provide care to two nursing home residents

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced his office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (SCMFCU) arrested two Upstate nurses after they allegedly failed to provide necessary care to maintain the health and safety of two nursing home residents.

A joint investigation by the Spartanburg Police Department and the SCMFCU revealed that between September 9, 2022 and September 11, 2022, 22-year-old Alyssa Paige Morris and 44-year-old Heather Star Gowan allegedly failed to provide care to two Magnolia Manor residents.

Officials said Morris and Gowan were both employed as Licensed Practical Nurses at the nursing facility in Spartanburg. The SCMFCU said that both defendants intentionally failed to change the victims’ wound dressings, causing their wounds to increase in size, resulting in both victims suffering unnecessary harm and risk to their physical health.

They said during the time of the alleged misconduct, the victims were classified as vulnerable adults under South Carolina law based upon their residence in a residential or skilled nursing facility.

The facility reported the incident to law enforcement and fully cooperated with investigators.

Morris of Cowpens, SC and Gowan of Gaffney, SC were both booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center on Neglect of a Vulnerable Adult charges on Monday, Dec. 5.

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