North Carolina Nursing Home Resident Dies from Loading Dock Fall
Annie Bell Scarboro was a known "wanderer" at Five Oaks Manor nursing home in Concord, North Carolina. She was not injured on May 22, 2008 when she escaped the facility and was found by the dietary staff on a ramp in the parking lot. Ms. Scarboro, an Alzheimer's patient, left the facility undetected by a back kitchen door. The staff took precautions by putting a "wander guard" bracelet on her and facility staff was to check her every 15 minutes. They also limited her wandering to areas where she could be monitored.
On December 18, 2008, Ms. Scarboro was seen walking around using her "merry walker" around 8:45 p.m., but by 9:00 p.m. no one could find her. The entire facility was searched, but Ms. Scarboro could not be found. At 9:20 p.m., a nursing assistant finally located her. She had fallen four feet from the loading dock outside the kitchen door and was lying on the ground with her "merry walker" was on top of her. She had a head laceration and "blood was running everywhere", but she was breathing and had a pulse. She was taken to the Carolinas Medical Center and later died.
How did Ms. Scarboro make it through three sets of doors into the kitchen area and onto an unlit loading dock undetected? Where were her caregivers?
The Department of Health and Human Services found that Five Oaks "failed to prevent a cognitively impaired resident from accessing the loading dock, resulting in a fall". Their recommendation was that the facility be fined $10,000 per day for a five-day period from December 18 through December 22, when the facility repaired deficiencies. Those deficiencies included a repairing a broken lock to the loading dock door, installing an alarm at the door, replacing bulbs to light the loading dock, and building a fence along the loading dock.
Five Oaks Manor is a one star nursing home, according to the new rating system instituted by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which indicates a below average facility.
The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling nursing home cases of abuse and neglect. Please contact us at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
