BEAUMONT NURSING CENTER Families sue nursing home over 2 patient deaths

WORCESTER - The families of two elderly Central Massachusetts residents who died from injuries they suffered in falls in 2015 at a Westborough nursing home have filed wrongful death lawsuits in Worcester Superior Court.

Both victims had dementia and a history of falls and attempting to wander outside of protected areas when they fell while patients at Beaumont Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Center, 3 Lyman St., Westborough.

Betty "Betsy" (Ford) Crane, 89, of Westminster fell on July 29, 2015, and died Aug. 7 of blunt force head trauma. The following month, on Sept. 15, 2015, Vincent M. Walsh Jr., 85, formerly of Shrewsbury, fell and died four days later of blunt force head trauma. He had only been at the nursing home for one month.

Both families, who did not know each other at the time of the incidents, claim the defendants failed to adequately staff the facility and properly train staff. In both cases, the dementia victims fell after staff did not maintain devices that were in place to prevent falls. Each was being monitored with a WanderGuard, a bracelet that is placed around an ankle or wrist that has an electronic sensor that monitors the movement of patients.

The state Department of Public Health, which was notified of Mrs. Crane's death by someone other than the nursing home two months later, interviewed staff Dec. 21, 2015.

A certified nursing assistant told authorities that after assisting Mrs. Crane into her personal recliner at 2 p.m. on July 29, she forgot to turn on the chair alarm. Mrs. Crane was found about an hour later, lying face down on the floor with a head injury. Mrs. Crane complained of pain in her head throughout the night, and the next morning she was lethargic and unable to keep food, liquid or medications in her mouth. But staff allegedly did not notify the physician or nurse practitioner of Mrs. Crane's condition.

Two days after the fall, Mrs. Crane was taken to the emergency department at Marlboro Hospital, where a radiology scan revealed that she had a brain bleed. She continued to deteriorate until she died Aug. 7.

The death of Mr. Walsh - who had dementia and psychosis and required use of a wheelchair - resulted after he was able to move through a WanderGuard sensor door without being noticed by staff, according to a state DPH report. Mr. Walsh was not wearing the device ordered by his physician. Two weeks before the fall, a nurse told DPH investigators that she used scissors to cut it off the patient's leg because she thought it was too tight. Even so, for the next two days, staff on every shift documented that Mr. Walsh was wearing the device and it was functioning properly.

Staff finally discontinued orders from Mr. Walsh's physician that the monitor should be in place, without permission from the physician. On Sept. 15, 2015, a housekeeper at Beaumont found Mr. Walsh lying on the floor at the bottom of the service stairs. He was transferred to a hospital with a bruised and lacerated kidney. He died on Sept. 19.

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fined Beaumont $74,250 in the case of Mrs. Crane for deficiencies, including failing to notify the patient's physician or nurse practitioner of the change in her condition, according to a report.

The facility received a 35 percent discount in the fine for waiving its appeal rights. The facility paid $27,787, reflecting a 35 percent reduction in the CMMS fine, for deficiencies found during the investigation of Mr. Walsh's fatal fall. A state fine was not imposed in either case because DPH did not begin fining nursing homes - a $50 fine per deficiency, and a $50 per day fine for failure to correct a deficiency - until after the two deaths.

Defendants in the lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of Mrs. Crane are Beaumont at the Willows LLP, doing business as Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center; Robert E. Tuffy of Hanover, Dorothy C. and Daniel J. Salmon Jr. of Sutton, three partners of the businesses; and Continuing Care Management LLC, a separate entity owned by the Salmons that provided health care services at Beaumont in 2015.

Defendants in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Mr. Walsh are Salmon Health and Retirement; Beaumont Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Center; Matthew Salmon of Grafton, who at the time of the allegations was the chief operating officer of Salmon Health and the Beaumont facility; Paul O'Connell, former chief administrator for both businesses, who currently lives in Arizona; Renee Kublbeck of Holden, who was the director of nursing services; Kara Costa, a licensed practical nurse at the facility; and Raymond Doe, another LPN, whose last name was not known when the claim was filed.

Shiri Pizzi, a Providence lawyer who represents the defendants, did not return a phone call seeking a comment.