At 6 a.m. on June 4, 2018, Buffalo Police received a 911 call from an employee of the Emerald South Nursing Home who found an 87-year-old resident of the nursing home, lying in the parking lot, as she was coming into work. the patient sought to attempted to escape the nursing home by tying clothes and bed sheets together. He then tried to climb out of his third floor window when he plummeted 34 feet to the ground.
Windows in such facilities are required to open known more than 7 inches to prevent these types of occurrences for patients with impaired mental capacity, dementia, etc. New York State Department of Health has limited resources in inspecting nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Lawsuits by families for nursing home neglect do make the facilities more accountable for disregard of safety violations, or failure to comply with minimum safety standards when entrusted with our loved ones. while in route to the hospital the Buffalo resident who fell died from the serious injuries sustained .
A simple bolt can be installed in a nursing home window to prevent it from opening more than 7 inches. In addressing this Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo stated “That device did not appear to be functioning on this window.” An investigation is now taking place to see whether or not the owner of the senior facility performed safety checks or inspected their nursing home to determine the safety devices were properly installed on their windows.
This is not the first time a resident has died due to a lack of proper safety measures at this Buffalo nursing home in recent years. In 2016, 82-year-old resident was beaten to death by a the male resident when she mistakenly entered the man’s room in the dementia unit, where she also resided. woman endured serious personal injuries, including a broken neck, broken nose, several broken ribs, facial fractures, and a collapsed lung during the attack. She ultimately died a few days later as a result of her injuries.
Just last year Emerald South Nursing Home was fined $10,000 by the state after the New York State Department of Health completed its investigation into the death of the woman resident who sustained multiple fractures, discussed above. The state found the nursing home was not providing adequate supervision of its residents to prevent such abuse type incidents. The nursing home has been cited for multiple other violations as well. Emerald South Nursing Home has four times the number of complaints and citations than the state average. The nursing home has a “below average” rating, receiving only 2 out of 5 stars, from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. A nursing home negligence attorney can review an incident under a contingency fee agreement, which means there’s no fee unless the recovery is made.
For many reasons, there comes a time when our elderly are placed into a nursing home with the expectation they will be properly cared for. Yet, all too often, they suffer from nursing home neglect or abuse and do not receive medical care even at minimal safety standards. Resident rights are often violated by facilities that choose to place profits before patients health and safety. Nursing home neglect and abuse occurs in a variety of ways such as lack of proper nutrition, bed sores, failure to provide recognized protocols to prevent falls, and physical abuse, but these all ultimately stem from the nursing home failing to provide our mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers , and other seniors with sufficient care and supervision.
If you or a loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect and sustained a serious personal injury you should contact a nursing home attorney promptly. If you have questions contact Buffalo attorney John Feroleto, or another attorney who handles nursing home neglect and abuse cases.
