Do you have questions about a possible Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect case? Click below to start an investigation with us. We'll help you get answers.
What types of Erie Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases Do You Handle?
We handle all kinds of nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Erie, Pennsylvania. These cases usually involve one or more of the following:
Nursing Home Elder Abuse
Elder abuse refers to intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm, regardless of whether harm is intended, to an elderly person by a caregiver. Abuse includes failure by a caregiver to satisfy an elder’s basic needs—neglect.
Nursing Home Bedsores and Pressure Ulcers
Bedsores shouldn’t happen. We investigate to find answers for families when a nursing home allows a bedsore to worsen or kill their loved one.
Nursing Home Choking and Suffocation Deaths
Nursing home residents should never choke or suffocate in nursing homes. Choking and suffocation deaths in nursing home are preventable. Unfortunately, they do happen. And probably much more often than most people can imagine. Choking and suffocation continue to be leading causes of death in nursing homes.
Nursing Home Dehydration and Malnutrition
Nursing home dehydration and malnutrition are serious and deadly threats to older people. When nursing homes are understaffed or careless with resident health, dehydration can set in all too quickly.
Nursing Home Falls and Drops
Nursing home residents are often frail, weak, and unstable. They need help moving from place-to-place or getting in and of bed.
Unfortunately, nursing homes continue to allow residents to fall and become injured. Fractures of large bones (like hips and femurs) often lead to death in the elderly.
Nursing Home Wandering Off (called Elopement)
Nursing homes need to protect their residents. Elderly people with memory problems sometimes wander off. This is called “elopement.”
Nursing homes are required to assess residents to prevent this from happening. Nursing homes must have precautions in place to prevent residents from wandering off. This includes having the appropriate amount of staff to monitor residents. Nursing homes must also place alarms on doors and respond to those alarms to stop residents before they are injured.
If residents are permitted to wander off they can be severely injured. There have been examples of residents freezing to death in cold, being struck by cars, and falling down stairs.
Nursing Home Sexual Assault
It should go without saying that sexual abuse anywhere, including in nursing homes, is a crime that must be eradicated from society. Disgustingly, every year we see nursing home sexual abuse cases make headlines.
These are frequently the result of corporate greed and incompetence refusing to do required background checks.
Nursing Home Wrongful Death
When a nursing home’s abuse and neglect causes injury, the injured resident has a personal injury case. When that injury causes the resident’s death—whether immediately, or over time—the resident’s family has a case. It is called a “wrongful death” claim.
Nursing Home Medication Errors
Medication errors are one of the leading causes of unintentional deaths in nursing homes.
Assisted Living Abuse and Neglect
Assisted Living Facilities, called Residential Care Facilities in Pennsylvania, are not nursing homes, and are not as well-regulated as nursing homes. That doesn’t mean someone injured or killed in a residential care facility has no claim. But the types of claims, and how to pursue them, are different.
Where Do Erie, Pennsylvania Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Cases Go to Trial?
Nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Erie go to trial at the Erie County, Pennsylvania Courthouse.
Erie County Courthouse
140 W. Sixth Street
Room 210
Erie, PA 16501
p. 814-451-6000
Who are the Judges who will Preside over My Erie, Pennsylvania Nursing Home Abuse Case?
There are 13 judges are sitting on the Erie County court of Common Pleas.
Judge Christopher MacKendrick
Judge Denise Stuck-Lewis
Judge Laurie A Mikielski
Judge Suzanne C. Mack
Judge Lisa R. Ferrick
Judge Scott B. Hammer
Judge Susan Strohmeyer
Judge Brian McGowan
Judge Denise M. Buell
Judge Tom Carney
Judge Bill Cole
Judge Timothy S. Beveridge
Judge Paul Bizzarro
Who will be on the Jury in My Erie, Pennsylvania Nursing Home Case?
The jury is made up of regular people who live in Erie County, Pennsylvania. A large group of people will receive a letter (called a summons) telling them to come to court for jury duty.
Not everyone who receives a summons will be on the jury. The entire group that comes to court is called the “jury pool.”
The lawyers and the judge then get to ask questions to see who will be a good fit for the case. Some people will not be chosen for a number of reasons. It could be that they know one of the people involved in the case or may be biased for some reason.
A total of 8 people will be on the jury. 6 of those 8 people will need to find in your favor to win your case. To learn more about Erie County jury duty click here.
Who Performs Autopsies in Erie County?
Autopsies are performed under the supervision of Coroner Lyell Cook. Lyell Cook is the Erie County Coroner. He has overseen more than 9,000 autopsies for Erie County and eleven other counties in Pennsylvania. Cook is a funeral home director and embalmer, he graduated from the Pennsylvania Coroner’s Academy, the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, and Edinboro State College.
Coroner Lyell Cook can be contacted at the following address.
Coroner’s Office
Erie County Courthouse
140 West Sixth Street
Room 7
Erie, PA 16501
814-451-6331
What Does the Erie County Coroner’s Office Do?
According to its website, the Erie County Coroner does all of the following.
The Erie County Coroner is an important part of the criminal and civil justice system. The website states that:
The Erie County Coroner’s Office:
- Investigates 400 to 500 cases a year
- Certifies more than 1,400 cremations a year
- Employs a chief deputy, a full-time deputy and part-time deputies, a secretary, a forensic pathologist and several autopsy technicians.
- Performs coroner’s autopsies for Erie and 11 other counties in northwestern Pennsylvania
- Is involved in training for physicians, EMTs, firefighters, police and medical schools
- Has adjunct staff from numerous forensic fields
The Coroner works with law enforcement agencies, attorneys, insurance companies, and the public in preparing cases for criminal or civil trial. The assistance provided by the Coroner may include conducting investigation of deaths by using records, x-rays, toxicology tests, and autopsies; helping with the recovery and identification of dead persons; determining date, time, and place of death; and being available for fact and expert testimony for trials.
What is the Erie County Coroner’s Mission Statement?
“The mission of the Coroner’s Office is to investigate sudden, unexplained, unnatural, suspicious or violent deaths so that the truth can be determined as to the cause and manner of death with medical certainty and scientific exactness for families, physicians, hospitals, courts, law enforcement agencies, insurance companies and the community in general.”
Can I Report My Loved One’s Death to the Coroner?
Yes. If you believe that your loved one died under suspicious circumstances or because of abuse or neglect, you should report the death to the coroner.
You can report a death to the Erie County Coroner’s Office by following this link.
Do you have questions about a possible Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect case? Click below to start an investigation with us. We'll help you get answers.
What Types of Deaths Should Be Reported to the Coroner’s Office?
Most nursing home deaths that result in litigation are caused by accidental death or homicide.
Unfortunately, far too many primary care and other doctors choose not to alert the coroner or medical examiner after a person has died following trauma or other unusual circumstances, including after a nursing home resident falls.
When this occurs, it is important for the family to contact the coroner or medical examiner’s office as soon as possible. This can help ensure that the proper cause of death is given.
What Does It Mean to Probate An Estate?
The deceased person cannot file his own lawsuit. Pennsylvania law has a process where all beneficiaries are represented in a single wrongful death lawsuit through the creation of an estate. Although each surviving member of a decedent’s immediate family may be entitled to receive monetary compensation, there is only one cause of action for the recovery of that compensation under Pennsylvania’s wrongful death statute.
Opening An Estate
The actual lawsuit is brought in the name of the representative of the estate for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, children, parents, and other next-of-kin. The estate is created by filing certain paperwork in the probate court.
The “estate” is nothing more than a legal process where the probate court oversees the business of the deceased (including where money is being sent and how or if debts are being paid) and the wrongful death claim that belongs to the family members.
The probate court will then issue paperwork entitling a specific person to serve as the representative of the estate. The individual appointed by the probate court is the personal representative of the estate. The personal representative is then required to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the estate. The probate court must approve any wrongful death settlement.
Choosing A Personal Representative
Any competent adult person may serve as the personal representative of an estate. In order to be appointed as a personal representative of an estate in Ohio, a person must meet 4 requirements.
- Be at least 18 years of age (i.e., legally competent);
- Be mentally competent;
- Be bonded by a private insurance company; and
- Not have a criminal record (in order to be bonded).
If the deceased dies with a will, the will sometimes waives the bond requirement. Under those circumstances, in order to be appointed as the personal representative, the person must only meet the first two requirements, be over the age of 18 and be mentally competent.
Prior to appointing a personal representative of an estate, beneficiaries have the right to receive notice of the request and object to an applicant’s request to be the personal representative in a hearing. If the beneficiaries do not object to a person being named a personal representative and he or she meets the legal requirements, he or she will usually be named the personal representative by the probate court.
There is no requirement that the personal representative be a beneficiary of the wrongful death claim, be a member of the family, or even have ever known the deceased person. On certain occasions, a lawyer, bank official, or other neutral third-party may be appointed as the personal representative of the estate. This may be the most desirable outcome if, for example, no family member can be bonded or there is family conflict that prevents all beneficiaries from agreeing on a single family member to serve as personal representative.
What does A Personal Representative Do?
In many ways, the personal representative acts like plaintiff in a traditional lawsuit. The difference, however, is that the personal representative is not only making decisions that affect his or her own interests, but is making decisions that affect all beneficiaries of the wrongful death claim.
For example, the personal representative decides whether to file a lawsuit, who and when to sue, what lawyer to have represent the estate for court proceedings, and whether or not to settle the lawsuit, although the probate court must always approve the settlement before it can be finalized.
The personal representative often times has more contact with the lawyers representing the estate (although this is not always the case), is required to participate in certain stages of litigation after the lawsuit is filed called discovery, attends court hearings and pre-trials, and participates in settlement negotiations and mediations.
The personal representative is important because they have the power to choose which lawyer will protect all the beneficiaries’ interests. This is an important decision. The lawyer chosen has a tremendous impact on the final settlement or jury verdict. Picking an experienced wrongful death lawyer who has the ability and expertise to not only go to trial but secure a jury verdict is critical.
Given the amount of responsibility that goes into being the personal representative of an estate, it is important to have a personal representative who is organized, responsive, willing to vigorously pursue the claim, and make decisions that are most advantageous to all beneficiaries.
Where is the Probate Court in Erie County, Pennsylvania?
The Erie County Clerk of Records performs the duties of the Clerk of Courts, Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans’ Court divisions, according to all legal authorities governing those bureaus.
County Clerk of Records
140 W 6th St #122
Erie, PA 16501
What Nursing Homes Do You Investigate and Sue in Erie County?
We investigate claims against all nursing homes in Erie County. At any given time, we are usually investigating multiple facilities in the area for nursing wrongful death. Those deaths may be caused by falls or drops, medication errors, dehydration, malnutrition, infection, bedsores, sexual assault or rape, and other forms of physical abuse.
The following is a list of nursing homes in Erie County.
1-Star Nursing Home Facilities
2-Star Nursing Home Facilities
2-star facilities are those with serious deficiencies in several quality indicators. They are considered below average.
WALNUT CREEK HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER
4850 ZUCK ROAD
ERIE, PA 16506
(814) 453-6641
3-Star Nursing Home Facilities
149 WEST 22ND STREET
ERIE, PA 16502
(814) 452-3271
WESTERN RESERVE HEALTHCAREANDREHABILITATION CENTER
1521 WEST 54TH STREET
ERIE, PA 16509
(814) 864-0671
ABINGTON CREST HEALTHCAREANDREHABILITATION CENTER
1267 SOUTH HILL ROAD
ERIE, PA 16509
(814) 864-4081
PLEASANT RIDGE MANOR EAST/WEST
8300 WEST RIDGE ROAD
GIRARD, PA 16417
(814) 474-5521
4-Star Nursing Home Facilities
4114 SCHAPER AVENUE
ERIE, PA 16508
(814) 868-0831
5416 EAST LAKE ROAD
ERIE, PA 16511
(814) 899-8600
900 MANCHESTER ROAD
FAIRVIEW, PA 16415
(814) 838-4822
419 WATERFORD STREET
EDINBORO, PA 16412
(814) 734-5021
5-Star Nursing Home Facilities
PENNSYLVANIA SOLDIERS AND SAILORS HOME
PO BOX 6239
ERIE, PA 16512
(814) 871-4531
227 WEST 22ND STREET
ERIE, PA 16502
(814) 878-2600
607 EAST 26TH STREET
ERIE, PA 16504
(814) 459-0621
ELMWOOD GARDENS OF PRESBYERIAN SENIORCARE
2628 ELMWOOD AVENUE
ERIE, PA 16508
(814) 864-4802
TWINBROOK HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER
3805 FIELD STREET
ERIE, PA 16511
(814) 898-5600
5535 PEACH STREET
ERIE, PA 16509
(814) 868-7395
2301 EDINBORO ROAD
ERIE, PA 16509
(814) 866-7002
4855 WEST RIDGE ROAD
ERIE, PA 16506
(814) 836-5300
MANCHESTER COMMONS OF PRESBYTERIAN SENIORCARE
6351 WEST LAKE ROAD
ERIE, PA 16505
(814) 838-9191
Our No Fear Guarantee
Our No Fear Guarantee 
You’ve probably seen the lawyer ads: “No Fee Guarantee!” “No Fees if We Don’t Win!”
Guess what? That’s true for just about any plaintiff’s lawyer. It’s what a “contingency fee” means. It doesn’t mean they’ll work hard. Or get a good result for you. It doesn’t mean much at all.
What we promise you is a NO FEAR guarantee.
What does that mean? For 99% of our clients, a medical injury caused by negligence is new. The medical malpractice lawsuit process is new. Depositions, discovery, trial . . . everything is new.
New can be scary. Especially when it involves having to testify under oath.
We’ve developed systems that let you address and move past the fear. Through education and information about the process. Role-playing and other preparation techniques. We empower you to be fearless. Because this process is hard enough.
