What types of Pittsburgh Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases do You Handle?
We handle all kinds of nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Pittsburgh, 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 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Cases Go to Trial?
Nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Pittsburgh go to trial at the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Courthouse, located at 436 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, in the “Common Pleas” courts.
Who are the Judges who will Preside over My Pittsburgh Nursing Home Abuse Case?
There are 49 judges are sitting on the county court of Common Pleas.
You can see the list of judges here.
Who will be on the Jury in My Pittsburgh Nursing Home Case?
The jury is made up of regular people who live in Allegheny 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 Allegheny County jury duty click here.
Who Performs Autopsies in Allegheny County?
Autopsies are performed under the supervision a medical examiner. Dr. Karl E. Williams, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Examiner is the Allegheny County Coroner.
A Coroner shall be elected quadrennially in each county, who shall hold his office for a term of four years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after his election.
Dr. Karl E. Williams, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Examiner can be contacted at the following address.
Office of the Medical Examiner
1520 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
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 Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office by following this link.
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.
A probate court may remove the administrator of decedent’s estate when the administrator refuses to bring a wrongful death action when a legitimate wrongful death claim exists.
Where is the Probate Court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?
414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Can also visit this link to find out more information.
What Nursing Homes Do You Investigate and Sue in Allegheny County?
We investigate claims against all nursing homes in the Allegheny County. At any given time, we may be 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 Allegheny County.
1-Star Nursing Home Facilities
CORNER VIEW NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER
6655 FRANKSTOWN AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
(412) 665-3232
SQUIRREL HILL WELLNESS AND REHABILITATION CENTER
2025 WIGHTMAN STREET
PITTSBURGH, PA 15217
(412) 421-8443
2-Star Nursing Home Facilities
2-star facilities are those with serious deficiencies in several quality indicators. They are considered below average.
MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-SHADYSIDE
5609 FIFTH AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15232
(412) 362-3500
2344 PERRYSVILLE AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15214
(412) 321-4139
MT LEBANON REHABILITATION AND WELLNESS CENTER
350 OLD GILKESON ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15228
(412) 257-4444
SOUTHWESTERN NURSING CARE CENTER
500 LEWIS RUN ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15122
(412) 466-0600
1717 SKYLINE DRIVE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15227
(412) 885-8400
3-Star Nursing Home Facilities
310 FISK STREET
PITTSBURGH, PA 15201
(412) 622-9000
745 NORTH HIGHLAND AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
(412) 362-6622
MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-WHITEHALL BOROUGH
505 WEYMAN ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15236
(412) 884-3500
MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-PITTSBURGH
550 SOUTH NEGLEY AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15232
(412) 665-2400
700 BOWER HILL ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15243
(412) 341-1030
PENNWOOD NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER LLC
909 WEST STREET
PITTSBURGH, PA 15221
(412) 723-3662
MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-NORTHSIDE
2170 RHINE STREET
PITTSBURGH, PA 15212
(412) 323-0420
4-Star Nursing Home Facilities
PARAMOUNT NURSING AND REHABILITATION AT SOUTH HILL
100 KNOEDLER ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15236
(412) 650-3100
JOHN J KANE REGIONAL CENTER-RO
110 MCINTYRE ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15237
(412) 369-2020
BAPTIST HOMES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
489 CASTLE SHANNON BLVD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15234
(412) 563-6550
MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES-GREEN TREE
1848 GREENTREE ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15220
(412) 344-7744
200 JHF DRIVE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15217
(412) 420-4000
CARING HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CARE & REHAB CTR
234 CORAOPOLIS ROAD
CORAOPOLIS, PA 15108
(412) 331-6060
BAPTIST HOMES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
489 CASTLE SHANNON BLVD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15234
(412) 563-6550
1300 BOWER HILL ROAD
PITTSBURGH, PA 15243
(412) 278-1300
5-Star Nursing Home Facilities
1028 BENTON AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15212
(412) 307-1100
PROVIDENCE POINT HEALTHCARE RESIDENCE
200 ADAMS AVE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15243
(412) 489-3560
UPMC MAGEE-WOMENS HOSPITAL TCU
300 HALKET STREET
PITTSBURGH, PA 15213
(412) 641-3318
5300 STANTON AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
(412) 361-2833
JOHN J KANE REGIONAL CENTER-GL
955 RIVERMONT DRIVE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15207
(412) 422-6800
5701 PHILLIPS AVENUE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15217
(412) 422-5100
7060 HIGHLAND DRIVE
PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
(412) 665-6706
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.
