Family of Resident Who Died from Sepsis and Gangrene Sues Jefferson County Nursing Home

Carriage Inn of Steubenville.

The family of Henry Taylor have filed a nursing home wrongful death claim against the nursing home company that owns the nursing home he was living in before his death.  Mr. Taylor’s death was attributed to a system-wide infection (sepsis) and gangrene.  As described in the Complaint:

Henry Taylor died on February 26, 2017 as a result of Defendants’ refusal to provide basic medical and nursing care to Henry Taylor. Defendants’ refusal to provide these basic services caused Henry Taylor to suffer numerous pressure and bed sores, infected wounds, urinary tract infections, dehydration, falls and ultimately his death as a result of gangrene and sepsis.

The nursing home defendants are Capital Health—a private, for-profit company—and its Carriage Inn of Steubenville location.

Regarding the care Mr. Taylor received, the Complaint alleges Carriage Inn of Steubenville’s lack of care included:

a.      Failing to respond to call lights for Henry Taylor and other residents in a timely way;

b.      Failing to help Henry Taylor eat at meals;

c.      Failing to bathe or clean Henry Taylor’s skin, face, and hair;

d.     Causing Henry Taylor to suffer multiple falls;

e.      Causing Henry Taylor to develop multiple pressure ulcers on Henry Taylor’s skin, including his genitals;

f.       Causing Henry Taylor to suffer from urinary tract infections;

g.      Causing Henry Taylor to suffer from gangrenous wounds;

h.     Causing Henry Taylor to suffer from infected wounds.

The Complaint alleges “Capital Health uses its for-profit model to manage nursing homes, including the amount and degree of care available, at numerous facilities throughout Ohio, including:

a.       Carriage Inn of Cadiz (308 West Warren Street Cadiz, OH 43907)

b.       Carriage Inn of Dayton (5040 Philadelphia Drive, Dayton, OH 45415)

c.       Carriage Inn of Steubenville (3102 St. Charles Drive, Steubenville, OH 43952)

d.       Gables Care Center (351 Lahm Drive, Hopedale, OH 43976)

e.       Scioto Community (433 Obetz Road, Columbus, OH 43207)

f.        Shiloh Springs Care Center (3500 Shiloh Springs Road, Trotwood, OH 45426)

g.       Sunnyslope Care Center (102 Boyce Drive, Bowerston, OH 44695)

h.       The Oaks of West Kettering (1150 West Dorothy Lane, Dayton, OH 45409)

You can read the Complaint from the case here:

The lawsuit was filed through nursing home abuse lawyers at Eadie Hill Trial Lawyers.  The lawsuit is pending in the Jefferson County Common Pleas Court before the Honorable Joseph J. Bruzzese, Jr., case number 17-CV-526.  The Jefferson County Courthouse is located in Steubenville, Ohio.   (Learn more about Steubenville, Ohio nursing homes or the Court.)

The case was filed by the Estate of Henry Taylor through the estate administrator.  Doris Harris is the duly appointed Administrator of the Estate of Henry Taylor, as appointed by the Probate Court of Jefferson County in case number 2017 ES 155 before Probate Judge Joseph M. Corabi.  Probate Courts oversee approval of any settlement or distribution of wrongful death cases in Ohio.

The Complaint details alleged understaffing at the facility, and findings from state inspectors:

47.  This systemic understaffing leads to poor outcomes because the nursing staff is overworked and unable to provide needed care to all residents, such as turning and positioning (leading to bedsores), changing incontinent residents (leading to bedsores and infections), toileting residents (leading to increased falls and other issues), and assisting residents with eating and drinking (leading to more dehydration, malnutrition, choking, and other complications).

48.  For example:

a.            Carriage Inn of Steubenville’s percentage of long-stay high-risk residents with pressure ulcers is 9.6%, almost twice the Ohio average of 5.1%.

b.            Carriage Inn of Steubenville’s percentage of long-stay residents experiencing one or more falls with major injury is 5.6%, compared with the Ohio average of 3.5%.

c.             Carriage Inn of Steubenville’s percentages are also worse than the Ohio average for long-stay residents whose ability to move independently worsened, long-stay residents whose need for help with daily activities has increased, and long-stay residents who lose too much weight.

d.            Carriage Inn of Steubenville also overmedicates residents with antipsychotic medication, at almost twice the rate of average Ohio nursing homes.

49.  This has also led to citations from the State for endangering residents for such issues as:

a.            Not providing proper services to prevent urinary tract infections. (10/23/2014, 1/21/2016, 3/30/2017)

b.            Not having a program that investigates, controls and keeps infection from spreading. (3/30/2017 and 7/19/2017)

c.             Not providing necessary care and services to maintain the highest well being of each resident. (7/19/2017)

d.            Not making sure each resident’s drug regimen is free from unnecessary drugs, or not making sure each resident’s entire drug/medication is managed and monitored to achieve highest well being. (10/23/2014, 1/21/2016)

e.            Not conducting initial and periodic assessments of each resident’s functional capacity. (10/23/2014)

f.             Not keeping each resident free from physical restraints, unless needed for medical treatment. (9/2/2015)

g.            Not hiring only people with no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents, or not reporting and investigating any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents. (9/2/2015)

h.    Not developing policies that prevent mistreatment, neglect, or abuse of residents or theft of resident property. (9/2/2015)

i.      Not making sure that nurse aides show they have the skills and techniques to be able to care for residents’ needs. (8/26/2016)

50.  From these and prior inspections, as well as the MDS evaluations and review of resident care outcomes, Capital Health was on notice of the issues caused by understaffing yet, nevertheless, continued to systematically understaff the facility.

51.  The intent and outcome of their misleading advertising is to cause residents, their families, and external care providers to believe the nursing facility is much better staffed than it is, while they drastically limit the budget and overhead needed to run a safe facility to maximize profits and syphon resources at the expense of patient safety.

52.  This systemic understaffing is part of Capital Health’s approach to maximizing profits for its owners, as evidenced by similar poor staffing levels at some of its other Ohio nursing homes.

We investigate nursing home cases of all types–falls, bedsores, infections, wrongful death–and focus our practice on ending nursing home abuse.  Leave your feedback on this case in the comments below, or use the contact form at the bottom of the page to ask us about your case confidentially.