Zanesville, Ohio Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyers

What is Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?

Nursing home abuse and neglect can take many forms. This can range from financial manipulation by caretakers to extreme physical abuse resulting in death.

Nursing home abuse and neglect is more common than you think. As many as 95% of nursing home patients report some form of neglect.

This is particularly frightening when you consider that 3.2 million people living in nursing homes and 40% for the population will enter a nursing home at some point in their life.

If you would like to learn more about the signs of elder abuse, go here.

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

We handle all kinds of nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Zanesville, Ohio. These cases usually involve one or more of the following issues:

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 Zanesville, Ohio Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases Go to Trial?

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

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

There are two judges who hear nursing home abuse and neglect cases in Muskingum County, Ohio. They are the Honorable Jay F. Vinsel and D. Scott Rankin.

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

The jury is made up of regular people who live in Muskingum 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.

More information on the Muskingum County Court is available here.

Who is the Coroner for Muskingum County, Ohio?

The coroner serving Muskingum County, Ohio is Dr. Charles M. Feicht, DO. The coroner’s office is New Concord, not far from Muskingum University. Dr. Fiecht can be contacted at the following:

Muskingum County Coroner’s Office

Charles M. Feicht, DO

33 E Main St

New Concord, OH 43762

(740) 826-4965

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.

Where Can I get A Copy of My Loved One’s Death Certificate?

The Health Departments 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:

Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department 

205 North 7th Street

Zanesville OH  43701

(740) 454-9741

You can also contact the Health Department by visiting their website here.

If the coroner investigated the case, you can get a copy of the death certificate from the Muskingum County Coroner’s Office, as well.

If you are having trouble getting a death certificate or have questions about a nursing home death, we are happy to speak with you. Just complete the contact sheet at the bottom of the page click on the chat box.

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 Zanesville, Ohio?

Muskingum County Court House

401 Main St,

Zanesville, OH 43701

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 Muskingum County, Ohio?

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

Sterling Transitional Suites

1126 ADAIR AVENUE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 452-2087

Medicare has given Sterling Transitional Suites an overall rating of 3-Stars. This means that it is an average facility. However, it is below average in both quality measures and health inspections.

U.S. News & World Report gives it an overall rating of “average.”

It’s actual legal name is Zandex Health Care Corporation. It is a for-profit corporation.

Cedar Hill Care Center

1136 ADAIR AVENUE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 454-6823

Like Sterling Transitional Suites, Cedar Hill Care Center is actually owned by Zandex Health Care Corporation. It is a for-profit corporation.

Medicare has judged Cedar Hill Care Center to be a 1-Star facility. This means that it has the worst rating possible and is considered much below average.

Cedar Hill Care Center has an overall rating of “poor,” according to U.S. News & World Report. This is as bad as it gets.

Adams Lane Care Center

1856 ADAMS LANE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 454-9769

Despite its name, Adams Lane Care Center is really part of Zandex Health Care Corperation. It is a for-profit corporation that owns many nursing homes in Muskingum County, including Sterling Transitional Suites and Cedar Hill Care Center.

Adams Lane Care Center is an overall under performing 2-Star facility, according to Medicare.  It has 1-Star rating–the worst possible–for staffing. This means that according to information Adams Lane has submitted to Medicare, there aren’t enough staff to properly care for the residents.

U.S. News & World Report gives Adams Lane Care Center the worst rating possible, “poor.

Willow Haven Care Center

1020 TAYLOR STREET
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 454-9747

No shocker here, like the nursing homes listed above, Willow Haven Care Center is really just part of Zandex Health Care Corporation. Willow Haven also has the worst overall rating from Medicare, 1-Star.

Willow Haven Care Center is considered a “below average” facility, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The Oaks at Bethesda

2971 MAPLE AVENUE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 452-3800

Medicare has rated The Oaks at Bethesda as one of the worst nursing homes around, giving it an overall rating of just 1-Star. The Oaks at Bethesda scores “much below average” or “below average” in every major category ranked by Medicare.

The Oaks at Bethesda is a for-profit corporation. It’s legal name is actually Trilogy Healthcare of Muskingum II, LLC.

The Oaks at Northpointe

3291 NORTHPOINTE DRIVE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 452-3000

The Oaks at Northpoint is really a corporation called Trilogy Healthcare of Muskingum, LLC. Both The Oaks at Northpointe and the Oaks at Bethesda are part of a large corporate chain called Trilogy Health Services. Trilogy Health Services owns nursing homes throughout the Midwest.

The Oaks at Northpointe is a seriously under performing nursing home with only 1-Star, according to Medicare’s data.

The Oaks at Northpointe has an overall rating of “below average,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

Zanesville Health and Rehabilitation

1420 AUTUMN DRIVE
ZANESVILLE, OH 43701
(740) 452-4351

Zanesville Health and Rehabilitation is really a for-profit corporation called Zanesville NH LLC. Zanesville Health and Rehbailitation does manage to eke out a 3-Star rating from Medicare. This means that it is considered average.

U.S. News & World Report gives Zanesville Health and Rehabilitation Center a rating of “average.”

Beckett House at New Concord

1280 FRIENDSHIP DRIVE
NEW CONCORD, OH 43762
(740) 826-7649

Beckett House at New Concord is really Zandex Health Care Corporation. Zandex Health Care Corporation owns and operates 7 nursing home facilities around Muskingum County. It is a for-profit corporation.

Becket House at New Concord is a below average facility with a 2-Star rating, as evaluated by Medicare.

Somerset Health and Rehabilitation Center

411 SOUTH COLUMBUS STREET
SOMERSET, OH 43783
(740) 743-2924

Medicare has determined that Somerset Health and Rehabilitation has a 2-Star rating. This means that it is below average.

U.S. News & Report’s review ranks Somerset Health & Rehabilitation Center as a “below average” facility.

Somerset Health and Rehabilitation Center is a for profit corporation that is actually called Somerset NH, LLC.

New Lexington Center

920 SOUTH MAIN STREET
NEW LEXINGTON, OH 43764
(740) 342-5161

New Lexington Center is given only 1-Star by Medicare. This means that Medicare considers it to be “much below average” when compared to all other nursing homes in Ohio and the United States.

U.S. News & World Report ranks New Lexington Center as “poor.” This means it has the lowest rating possible.

New Lexington Center is a for-profit corporation. It’s legal name is not New Lexington Center at all. It’s legal name is Sunbridge Healthcare, LLC.