TRIAL BEGINS IN NURSING HOME CASE
Publication: THE
Published: 07/29/2008
Headline: trial
begins in nursing home case
Byline: CHERYL CASWELL
Jurors
began hearing testimony in a wrongful death case involving a woman who was a patient
for three months at a local nursing home.
Attorneys expect the trial to last two weeks as a jury
weighs whether Heartland of Charleston contributed to the death of Betty Wolfe,
77, of Elkview. Her family filed a lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court in
September 2006, six months after Wolfe died.
Heartland is owned by Manor Care, Inc., based in
Attorney William Harvit said Monday a lack of proper care at
the nursing home was the cause of death- He said employees were not trained and
were overworked, and they neglected Wolfe by letting her lie for long periods
in a wet bed.
“She wasn’t just wet,” Harvit said. “She was wet from her
neck to her feet. And that caused ulcers that became infected and that killed
her.”
Harvit said, “She went to Heartland for recuperation and for
physical therapy. It was supposed to be a break to get her back home. They
promised quality of care, quality of life and they didn’t even come close.’
Harvit cited a 150 percent turnover rate among nurses and
staff at the nursing home, He said health care workers often had to work double
shifts, were understaffed and overworked.
“Manor Care staffed Heartland based on greed, not need,”
Harvit said. “The LPNs and the CNAs
were doing all they could. They are not evil. They just could not do it.
“It was the system that Manor Care had that led to her
death,” he said.
Wolfe entered Heartland in late October 2004 after being
treated at CAMC. Harvit said the staff there insisted she wear diapers, despite
a doctor’s order that she be assisted to go herself to the bathroom.
When she attempted to go the bathroom anyway, she fell. She
was then placed in a bed designed to make it hard for her to get out, he said.
Staff didn’t change her for hours at a time, he said, leading to infected
ulcers on her tailbone.
Harvit said staff also didn’t notice the ulcers in time to
treat them properly.
Defense attorney Charles Johns, however, told the jury that
Wolfe was “on a downward slope” when she was transferred from
He said Wolfe had a history of long-term medical issues,
including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and chronic urinary
tract infections and was on 11 medications when she went into CAMC. She had had
a heart bypass.
Johns said, “According to CAMC’s notations, she had dementia and incontinence and the family had said they could no longer take care of her and requested a nursing home placement.”.
He said the hospital noted that a “continued decline can be
expected and that the family did not intend her to return home. Long-term care
was anticipated, he said. The hospital noted that Wolfe was “terminal.’
At Heartland, she was encouraged to eat and drink but a
feeding tube was inserted to nourish her. The family entered a “do not
resuscitate” order for her.
“It was a downhill slope, and the family knew that,” Johns
said, “She was getting what she needed at Heartland.
He said, “The issue you have to decide, is whether her death
was from the progression of long-term medical problems or because she got poor
care and that’s what killed her.”
The trial is taking place before Judge Irene Berger.
Contact writer Cheryl Caswell at (304) 348-4832.