Lawsuit Against New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center Alleges Negligence, Recklessness, and Wrongful Death of Louis Woehl

According to a recently refiled complaint, when Louis Woehl checked in to the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, he required significant attention. Suffering from dementia, and having recently fallen several times in his home, he entered the facility hoping to take advantage of the “warm and compassionate” care promised on New Lebanon’s website. Instead, the complaint alleges that the facility’s staff—despite being fully aware of Louis’ needs—failed in their mission to provide adequate care to their patient.

On July 8, 2019, less than three months after being admitted to New Lebanon, Louis passed away.

According to the complaint, The New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center is a for-profit care center. This means that it is in the best financial interest of the facility to minimize costs, particularly when it comes to staffing. We believe that this model led New Lebanon Rehabilitation to deliberately understaff their facility, preventing them from providing the necessary level of care to their patients.

Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the defendants—through heedless indifference to the consequence of their actions—disregarded the needs of a patient in their care, ultimately leading to his untimely and wholly preventable death. 

On behalf of Louis Woehl’s family, Eadie Hill is proud to file this lawsuit alleging negligence, recklessness, wrongful death, Resident’s Rights Law violations, and civil conspiracy against the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, and its corporate owners.

Courses of Action

The lawsuit we filed against the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, its parent companies, and Dr. Harold Allen Ferguson Jr. DO alleges the following courses of action:

1. Medical Negligence and Recklessness. The complaint alleges that the defendants failed in their duty to provide proper care and treatment to Louis and that their negligence was the direct and proximate cause of the injuries that he suffered.
2. Facility Defendants Wrongful Death. The complaint alleges that these injuries caused Louis’ untimely and wrongful death and caused his next-of-kin to suffer damages including mental anguish, grief, and loss of Louis’ society and companionship. This course of action is taken against the facility defendants, including the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center and its parent companies.
3. Civil Conspiracy. The complaint alleges that the defendants had an express agreement, mutual understanding, or tacit agreement to defraud residents and their families by delivering wholly inadequate care, to systemically understaff their facilities in violation of federal regulations, and to not provide the level of care paid for by taxpayer dollars, among other offenses.
4. Nutritional Care Defendant Wrongful Death. The complaint alleges that the Nutritional Care Defendants failed to provide proper nutritional care and treatment to Louis, which they knew or should have known that he required, and which ultimately resulted in his injuries and death.
5. Nursing Home Resident Rights Violation. The complaint alleges that the defendants violated Louis’ rights to adequate and appropriate medical treatment and nursing and nutritional care, among other rights, and this violation was the direct and proximate cause of Louis’ untimely death.

Eadie Hill Seeks Justice for the Victims of Profiteering Healthcare Facilities

At Eadie Hill, we believe that profiteering companies can be responsible for far too many injuries and deaths among residents when they under staff, under train, and under manage a facility. It is our mission to seek justice for the victims of these centers, who because of the neglect and recklessness exhibited by understaffed facilities, underwent needless suffering and, in many cases, premature deaths. 

We will discover whether that was the issue in this case through our work in discovery and, if necessary, trial.

About the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center

While the New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center claims to have “an established reputation for excellence,” a closer look tells a different story. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, New Lebanon’s staffing was well below average, with the severely understaffed facility earning the CMS’ lowest “one-star” rating.

This finding was echoed by several people who have worked at the center. One former maintenance director wrote on Indeed.com that the facility is “horribly run.” They went on to note that “the company doesn’t want to put any money in it at all they are just worried about filling beds… It is very stressful and under staffed.” A current employee, a nursing assistant, noted that many people in upper management “couldn’t care less” about the facility, and that it is always running out of supplies.

Sadly, these observations are not uncommon when it comes to for-profit facilities, in general. Because facilities like New Lebanon Rehabilitation are primarily concerned with maximizing earnings, it is in their best financial interest to cut costs. This means that these facilities are very frequently understaffed, a state of affairs that—according to the complaint—led directly to the death of Louis Woehl…and far too many other people like him.

New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center LLC 

AKA Harborside of Dayton Limited Partnership
101 Mills Place
New Lebanon, OH 45345

Genesis Healthcare LLC 
AKA GHC LLC
c/o Registered Agent:
Corporation Service Company
3366 Riverside Drive
Suite 103
Upper Arlington, OH 43221

Healthcare Services Group Inc.
c/o Registered Agent: 
Corporation Service Company
3366 Riverside Drive
Suite 103
Upper Arlington, OH 43221

New Lebanon Propco LLC
c/o Registered Agent:
VCorp Agent Services, Inc.
38602 Yeshiva Lane
Wickliffe, OH 44092

Harold Allen Ferguson Jr., DO
450-B Washington Jackson Rd.
Suite 102
Eaton, OH 45320

Further Information

If you have information about this case, this company, or your own issue, reach out to Eadie Hill Trial Lawyers at 866-NH-ABUSE (642-2873)