Connecticut Nursing Home Facing Lawsuit After Resident Death
Emily Townsend, a resident of Kettle Brook Care Center in Connecticut, fell from her bed in January 2008 and was hospitalized. Over the next two months, Ms. Townsend, 80, fell at least one more time. Her final fall occurred on March 29, 2008 and resulted in a broken left hip. Sadly, Ms. Townsend died three days after falling and breaking her hip. Her death certificate listed the broken hip as the underlying cause of death due to partial intestinal failure from a cut off blood supply and removal of part of her colon.
During that time period, Kettle Brook Care Center was operating under an unpublicized consent order from the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). The facility had been fined $25,000 and its license had been put on probation for two years after "findings which seriously jeopardized the health, safety, and welfare of patients and which have resulted in serious negative patient outcomes". Under the consent order, the facility would be allowed to accept new residents after hiring an independent physician as a medical consultant. In turn, the physician was to hire a independent nurse consultant. The consent order also set minimum staffing ratios for the facility and required the facility to comply with quality measures, such as "necessary supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents".
Robert Townsend, Ms. Townsend's son, had repeatedly complained to the state health department about his mother's care. In fact, he alleged that facility staff removed her bed alarm, a personal alarm, and a walker from her room - all against her physician's orders. His complaint lodged the day after her death prompted an investigation that revealed eleven violations, including failures to "provide interventions to prevent falls after the removal of an alarm" and to "utilize an alarm mechanism in accordance with the physician's order and/or to provide an environment free from accidents".
Kettle Brook's Administrator, Jennifer Carnovale, stated, "We have no reason to believe there is a valid claim against Kettle Brook". She justified the consent order entered into with the Department of Public Health by stating, "In 2006, Kettle Brook was one of 29 nursing homes in Connecticut that entered into a consent order with DPH."
To his credit, Robert Townsend has not given up his fight to be heard. He has repeatedly complained to senators, the attorney general, the governor, a state representative, and a variety of state health department officials. He alleges that state health officials are "more concerned about the well-being of nursing homes than the residents they should be protecting". Although Ms. Townsend's death certificate states that her death was ultimately caused by her fall, DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin stated, "Although we did have findings related to care planning in the area of falls, we were not able to validate Mr. Townsend's allegation that his mother's death was due to her last fall."
Mr. Townsend intends to seek damages in connection with his mother's "wrongful death".
The Terry Law Firm has experience in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com.
