Nursing Home Negligence Kills Kentucky Man

As fewer and fewer attendants are hired to care for the rising numbers of elderly citizens, the risk of negligence and elder abuse at nursing homes continues to increase in tandem. Recently, Woodcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Kentucky settled a wrongful death lawsuit for more than $70,000, after nursing home resident Bobby Crail was killed as a direct result of staff negligence.

This tragic case underscores a serious lack of proper nursing home care in the state of Kentucky. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have found that more than 43% of all Kentucky nursing homes provide either “below average” or “much below average” rated care, based on criteria like staffing, health inspections, and care quality.

At Hare Wynn, our wrongful death lawyers have handled many such cases throughout Kentucky and Alabama. If your loved one was injured or killed as a result of nursing home negligence, contact us today for a free consultation.

NURSING HOME NEGLIGENCE: THE EFFECTS OF UNDERSTAFFING

According to reports, Mr. Crail suffered from muscular dystrophy and was placed at Woodcrest nine years prior to his untimely death in 2016. Because of his condition, Mr. Crail used a wheelchair and had extremely limited mobility as a result. On the morning of March 20^th, 2016, he accidentally fell down a flight of stairs and through a broken emergency exit door, where his wheelchair inflicted serious injuries to his head and organs. After spending more than 9 hours alone without medical attention, Mr. Crail passed away.

The family, understandably outraged by this extreme case of negligence, sought justice by filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home operators and attendants. Although Bobby Crail had been an active part of the community at Woodcrest, the facility was ultimately too short-staffed to properly care for him or to look for him when he first went missing. As the lawsuit argued, this egregious lack of care directly contributed to his death.

This isn’t the first time Woodcrest has faced lawsuits for its poor standards of nursing home care: According to a report issued in February 2018, the facility is “chronically understaffed” and has been cited for dozens of violations over the last few years. This unsettling pattern of abuse and neglect has also been repeated in many other homes owned by Preferred Care, the for-profit company that purchased Woodcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center back in 2012. Mired in more than 150 wrongful death and negligence lawsuits, the company was ultimately forced to sell Woodcrest to new owners this past July.

HOLDING NURSING HOME STAFF ACCOUNTABLE IN THE FACE OF NEGLIGENCE

Little can compensate for the loss of an elderly loved one, and in the wake of caregiver negligence, it can be difficult to know how to hold the right parties accountable. You may feel overwhelmed at the extent of the neglect your loved one endured at a nursing home facility, and believe there is no recourse to seek justice for your family’s losses. If your loved one has been hurt or neglected in any way at their nursing home, it may be time to contact a personal injury firm that can represent you in this sensitive and painful matter. You can and should fight for your losses, and to protect the rights of the elderly.

Our nursing home abuse attorneys are here for you in this difficult time. Call us at 800-568-5330 for a free consultation with compassionate counsel.