Updated on: 2/23/2021
An investigation into a Marysville nursing home uncovered widespread neglect and unacceptable conditions after a Covid-19 outbreak killed 18 within the facility.
Marysville Care Center is a branch of Life Care Centers of America, the national long-term eldercare chain that paid $145 million to resolve allegations of fraud in 2016.
The Marysville facility was cited for insufficient staffing and neglect before the pandemic and is now the subject of a 339-page report from the department of health and human services that reveals disturbing issues with both Covid concerns as well as staffing and neglect.
Covid Failures
Life Care Center in Kirkland, the site of the first documented Covid-19 outbreak in the country has become associated with the pandemic that has killed more than 40 residents within the facility to this date.
Marysville Care Center has reportedly had 17 residents succumb to Covid-19 to date, and one staff member as well with 60 people being infected in the facility to date.
The report details the inspector's discovery of a severe lack of PPE for residents and staff as well as protocol failures that lead to staff members not knowing the infection status of an entire building at one point.
Staffing Failure
Staff at the facility were so spread thin two staff members reported having to work a 12-hour overnight shift caring for all 29 residents at the time themselves. This included numerous residents who required two-person lifts to move and resulted in residents waiting over an hour in some cases for assistance overnight.
Staffing shortages were not exclusive to nursing staff and hourly employees with the facility as a whole seeing a 100% turnover rate from 2019 to 2020 including six nursing directors over the course of 12 months, with several not outlasting their first month on the job.
Inspectors found waste bins in residents' rooms overflowing with garbage and used PPE along with hampers of gowns and laundry spilling into the hallway of their covid building.
Reportedly the lack of waste management is explained by two nurses being tasked with housekeeping as well as bathing all residents which lead to a backlog of both.
Nurses reported what they described as a staffing crisis to their superiors and yet admissions continued, subjecting new residents to the abuse and neglect that was already taking place.
Widespread Neglect and Abuse
Residents were found in states of indignity and in some cases active harm as inspectors toured the facility.
One-third of all residents reported only having one shower in the past 30-days with another third claiming to have none in that time.
The neglect manifested in real harm as one resident found with toenails so long they began curling underneath her feet, another with a three-inch wide and two-inch deep pressure wound that smelled of rot.
One resident was reported to have doses of medication missed that lead to multiple seizures.
The facility, knowingly continued to admit additional residents all while failing to address or even investigate in some cases the existing problems of neglect and abuse.
Legal Options for Victims of Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home residents, our parents, grandparents, spouses, or siblings, whoever they may be, have the right to live in a safe, clean and dignified environment free from the abuse and neglect reflected in this story.
When a care facility fails to provide a clean and safe environment for their resident, there are consequences, both mentally, emotionally, and physically for the residents and often financially for their loved ones who are supporting them.
Nursing home abuse is a real problem in this country and in this state as this report makes clear, leading to real harm to real people, and victims of these abuses, deserve a real recovery.
Davis Law Group has been helping get real recoveries for personal injury victims in the state of Washington for more than 20-years, and our team of trusted and experienced nursing home abuse attorneys knows how to get results for their clients.
If you believe you or a loved one have been the victim of nursing home abuse and simply want to know more about your legal options, you can call 206-727-4000 or use the chat or contact options on this page to request a free evaluation with our staff where we can help you best understand the path forward for your claim.
