Residents'
Rights Protection Campaign:
Sample Cases of Abuse and Neglect in California's Nursing Homes
Case #105: Nursing Home Neglect in Napa County
January 30, 2003
Nancy H., 82 years old, survived poverty, two cancers, and the cancer-caused
deaths of her husband and eldest daughter, but she couldn't survive the
effects of eight weeks' residency in a Napa nursing facility. Nancy
had lived at a seniors' independent living facility for some 15 years.
Most recently, she had begun to experience confusion, paranoia and a reduction
in mobility, and her daughter was looking for resources when a fall caused Nancy
to go to an Emergency Room. Her primary-care physician suggested a course
of physical therapy at a local private nursing and rehab center. He felt
that the rehab center was much better than the nursing facility.
An initial four weeks of therapy yielded no apparent improvement, and another
four weeks of treatment were ordered by the hospital. Deterioration accelerated,
and the daughter met with the ombudsman, care providers and Kaiser representatives
to say plainly that she could see that her mother was dying. Later that
same day, Nancy was transferred by paramedics back to the hospital, where she
died. Her daughter said she had made records noting "100's
of incidents of neglect." An out-of-court settlement was ultimately
reached.
