State Files Consumer Protection Lawsuit Against Nursing Homes
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Woodhaven Care Center in Monroeville promises families that a large, accommodating staff will see to the grooming and medical needs of their loved ones.
But when retired steelworker Reggie Hickman's wife, Catherine, became a resident there after suffering a stroke, he says she just languished in bed.
"She never got the proper care that she she should have had, being moved every hour or so, being wheeled out in a wheelchair, being wheeled around," he said.
Friday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office filed suit against Grane Healthcare of O'Hara Township, the operators of Woodhaven and a half dozen other nursing homes in our area, saying they failed to provide basic services to their elderly residents.
The suit alleges a chain-wide pattern of staffing shortages that resulted in improper care including:
- Incontinent residents not checked or changed
- Residents not being moved or re-positioned as needed every few hours
- Excessive & inappropriate use of physical & pharmacological restraints
- Residents who required meal assistance -- missing meals, or not getting enough to eat
The Attorney General's Office says the lawsuit seeks to prevent Grane from engaging in what it calls deceptive and unlawful practices and seeks compensation for the families of residents and carries state fines.
But in a statement, Grane called the allegations unfounded and vowed to defend itself in court, saying the suit was driven in part by a contingency agreement between the state and a Washington, D.C. law firm which stands to collect a large percentage of the fines.
Francis Zalewski says he has no complaint about the care his 97-year-old mother receives at Woodhaven.
"The staff is a little bit short but very good. Very good care," he said.
But Hickman, who filed and then settled a suit against Grane after his wife died, applauded the state's action.
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