Springfield Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Eadie Hill Trial Lawyers are Springfield, Ohio nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers. Our core mission is to end nursing home abuse across Ohio. We do this one case at a time.

What types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases do You Handle?

We handle all kinds of nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Athens, Ohio. 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 Ohio, 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 Springfield, Ohio Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Cases Go to Trial?

Nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Athens go to trial at the Clarke County, Ohio Courthouse.

Who are the Judges who will Preside over My Sptingfield, Ohio Nursing Home Abuse Case?

There are two judges who hear nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Clark County, Ohio. They are the Honorable Douglas Rastatter and Richard O’Neill.

There are also four magistrate judges who may be involved in your case at some level. They Katrine Lancaster, Ann Ringler, Melinda Reardon, and Patrick Phillips

Who will be on the Jury in My Sprinfield, Ohio Nursing Home Case?

The jury is made up of regular people who live in Clarke County, Ohio. 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.

Where Can I Get A Copy of my Death Certificate in Springfield, Ohio?

The Health Departments maintains records on births, deaths, marriages, and divorces that took place in the county. These are called “vital statistics” or “vital records.” You can get a copy of the death certificate by contacting:

According to the Clark County Ohio Coroner’s Office
529 E. Home Road
Springfield, OH 45505
Phone: 937-390-5609

Certified copies of death certificates are also available from the According to the Clark County Ohio Coroner’s Office.

Who is the Coroner for Clark County, Ohio?

The coroner serving Athens County, Ohio is Dr. Richard Marsh, M.D. Dr. Marsh and his office can be contacted at the following:

Richard A. Marsh, M.D., Coroner

Robert V. Stewart, M.D., Deputy Coroner

Patrick A. Gleason, Investigator

Melanie L. Bender, Investigator

Clark County Ohio Coroner’s Office

3130 E. Main St.

Springfield, OH 45505

(937) 521-2116 (Phone)

(937) 328-4576 (Fax)

coroner@clarkcountyohio.gov

You can learn more information about the Clark County Coroner’s Office here.

Why are Autopsies Performed in Clark County, Ohio?

The Clark Coroner performs autopsies for the following reason:

In order to reliably determine the cause and manner of a person’s death, it is important to examine his or her body. The extent of examination depends upon the person’s history, the circumstances of his or her death, and questions which may be raised by family members or others.

Does the Clark County, Ohio Coroner’s Office Have any Responsibilities to the Family?

Yes. The Clark County Ohio Coroner’s office states that it will abide by all of the following:

In the investigation of your loved one’s death the coroner, deputy coroner, and coroner investigators have the responsibility to:

• Treat your loved one’s body with respect and dignity.

• Safeguard all clothing and personal items and arrange their release to you.

• Perform examinations in a timely manner.

• Keep you informed of the progress of our investigation.

• Explain our findings to you.

• Answer your questions.

How Long Does it Take to Complete an Autopsy?

According to the Clark County Ohio Coroner’s Office, it “will make every reasonable effort to complete the examination as soon as possible. Usually, examinations can be completed within 24 hours.”

After an Autopsy is Performed, How Long Does it Take to Get the Body?

According to the Clark County, Ohio coroner:

As soon as our examination is completed your loved one’s body can be released to whomever you have chosen to handle burial or cremation. Once you have told us your choice, there is nothing else you need to do. We will notify them and will release your loved one’s body as soon as they are ready to accept it.

What Types of Deaths Should Be Reported to the Coroner’s Office?

Not all deaths have to be reported to the coroner, also called a medical examiner in some counties. However, whenever a person dies of “violent, suspicious, unusual, or sudden death,” that has to be reported to the coroner by law in Ohio.

Ohio Revised Code 313.12 says:

When any person dies as a result of criminal or other violent means, by casualty, by suicide, or in any suspicious or unusual manner, when any person, including a child under two years of age, dies suddenly when in apparent good health, or when any person with a developmental disability dies regardless of the circumstances, the physician called in attendance, or any member of an ambulance service, emergency squad, or law enforcement agency who obtains knowledge thereof arising from the person’s duties, shall immediately notify the office of the coroner of the known facts concerning the time, place, manner, and circumstances of the death, and any other information that is required pursuant to sections 313.01 to 313.22 of the Revised Code.

Only the coroner or medical examiner can certify a death as being anything other than “natural.” This means that only a medical examiner or coroner can determine whether a person’s death was the result of suicide, homicide, or accident.

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.  Ohio 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 Ohio’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.

1. Be at least 18 years of age (i.e., legally competent);
2. Be mentally competent;
3. Be bonded by a private insurance company; and
4. 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. See Toledo Bar Ass’n v. Rust, 124 Ohio St. 3d 305, 2010 Ohio 170.

Where is the Probate Court in Springfield, Ohio?

The Athens County, Ohio Probate Court is located on the second floor of the main courthouse.

Clark County Probate Court
50 E. Columbia St.
5th floor
Springfield, OH 45502

(937) 521-1845 (Phone)

(937) 328-2589 (Fax)

probate@clarkcountyohio.gov

The probate court is where an estate is opened. It is also where nursing home wrongful death settlements and verdicts are processed before the funds can be distributed to family members and charities.

What Are the Nursing Homes in Clark County, Ohio?

There are several assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Clark County, Ohio. Eadie Hill Trial Lawyers investigates claims against all of them.

Medicare rates nursing homes using a star system. 1-Star nursing homes are the lowest performing nursing homes. These are nursing homes that do poorly on measures of quality and care that Medicare reviews. These star rating systems also take into account the amount of staff that nursing homes have available to provide care for nursing home residents.

1-Star Nursing Homes Near Springfield, Ohio

1-Star nursing homes are those that Medicare considers to be the worst nursing homes. There are three 1-Star nursing homes near Springfield, Ohio.

HEARTLAND OF SPRINGFIELD 

2615 DERR ROAD

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45503

(937) 390-0005

ESSEX OF SPRINGFIELD 

2317 EAST HOME ROAD

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45503

(937) 399-9217

LONDON HEALTH & REHAB CENTER 

218 ELM ST

LONDON, OH 43140

(740) 852-3100

New London is a Medicare Special Focus Facility. There are only 6 nursing homes in Ohio that are on this list. This is a list of the worst nursing homes who have been publicly reprimanded by Medicare. If they do not get their act together, they risk losing the ability to receive payments from Medicare altogether.

2-Star Nursing Homes Near Springfield, Ohio

2-Star nursing homes are those Medicare has judged as below average. There are three 2-Star nursing homes near Springfield, Ohio.

SPRINGFIELD MASONIC COMMUNITY 

3 MASONIC DRIVE

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45501

(937) 525-3000

EAGLEWOOD CARE CENTER 

SPRINGMEADE HEALTHCENTER 

3-Star Nursing Homes Near Springfield, Ohio

3-Star nursing homes are those Medicare considers average. They are not as bad as some and not as good as the rest. There are 10 3-Star nursing homes near Springfield, Ohio.

SPRINGFIELD NURSING & INDEPENDENT LIVING 

404 E MCCREIGHT AVE

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45503

(937) 399-8311

GOOD SHEPHERD VILLAGE 

DAYSPRING OF MIAMI VALLEY HLTH CARE CENTER & REHAB 

DAYVIEW CARE CENTER INC 

HEARTLAND OF URBANA 

MERCY – MCAULEY CENTER 

PRISTINE SENIOR LIVING & POST-ACUTE CARE OF XENIA 

LAURELS OF HUBER HEIGHTS THE 

HEARTLAND OF BEAVERCREEK 

CROSSROADS REHABILITATION & NURSING 

208 NORTH CASSEL ROAD

VANDALIA, OH 45377

(937) 898-4202

4-Star Nursing Homes Near Springfield, Ohio

Medicare considers 4-Star nursing homes to be above average. There are 6 4-Star nursing homes near Springfield, Ohio.

FOREST GLEN HEALTH CAMPUS 

2150 MONTEGO DRIVE

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45503

(937) 390-9913

WRIGHT NURSING AND REHAB CTR 

829 YELLOW SPRINGS – FAIRFIELD RD

FAIRBORN, OH 45324

(937) 878-7046

VANCREST OF URBANA, INC 

HOSPITALITY CENTER FOR REHABILITATION AND HEALING 

PRISTINE SENIOR LIVING & POST-ACUTE CARE OF BEAVER 

GREENEWOOD MANOR 

5-Star Nursing Homes Near Springfield, Ohio

Medicare gives 5-Stars to nursing homes it considers to be much above average. There are 10 5-Star nursing homes near Springfield, Ohio.

SPRINGFIELD NURSING & INDEPENDENT LIVING 

404 E MCCREIGHT AVE

SPRINGFIELD, OH 45503

(937) 399-8311

ARBORS AT SPRINGFIELD