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Last summer, an elderly woman living at Carol's Country Touch on South 32nd Avenue in Yakima told invest-igators that the operator of the adult group home launched into "tirades" if she became incontinent, and grabbed her harshly and angrily if she was moving too slowly with her walker.

Carol Winters, operator of the home, was "a very angry person and has lots of it," the resident told investigators. She told family members that she was scared.

Although the elderly resident was in the early stages of dementia, investigators didn't discount her statements. They corroborated her story with employees, family members and other residents of the six-bed home. They also documented similar instances of neglect and mental abuse involving two other residents and one former resident.

According to the state, Winters would raise her voice when residents weren't eating fast enough and belittle them with cursing and yelling.

One employee said Winters grabbed a resident walking slowly into the home after returning from the eye doctor. She was wearing sunglasses because her pupils had been dilated.

According to the employee, Winters said to the woman: "Come on, woman, you act like you're dying."

The employee said the resident later apologized for being "an inconvenience. Maybe I should die so you don't have to put up with me."

In August, the Aging and Adult Services Administration of the Department of Social and Health Services revoked the license of Carol's Country Touch, which had been operating since 1996. The operator, the state said, failed to provide an environment where three residents and one former resident were free from physical and mental abuse.

Winters denied the allegations and appealed the state's decision to a state administrative law judge. The judge recently affirmed the permanent revocation of Winters' license to operate an adult group home.

Winters, who lives in Sunnyside, hasn't returned several calls requesting comment on the decision.

David Moon, the regional adminis-trator in Yakima for Residential Care Services, said the state shuts down one or two facilities a year in Region 2, which covers Yakima and seven other Central Washington counties.

"It's a relatively rare occurrence," said Moon, whose agency monitors adult group and boarding homes and nursing homes. A total of 52 adult group homes are licensed to operate 284 beds in Yakima County. Most specialize in caring for people with mental health issues, dementia or developmental disabilities.

At Carol's Country Touch, the state ordered Winters to leave the facility in August during their investigation.

Although she spent some nights in the facility to monitor residents, Winters didn't live there and hired caregivers for night shifts. The investigation found, however, that some of the employees who slept at the home were actually off duty, leaving the residents without care.

"At that point, we realized there was enough evidence of physical and/or verbal abuse that we needed to remove the provider so residents wouldn't be fearful of cooperating," Moon said.

In mid-August, when the home's license was revoked, the state and families of the residents moved the residents to other group homes.