Here it is again…another example of what happens when nursing homes put profits ahead of caring for people.
Doris Wolfe stayed at Spring Creek Healthcare Center (Colorado) for 17 days to rehabilitate following back surgery. Unfortunately, she broke her ankle the day she was supposed to be sent home. According to an investigation by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Wolfe may have turned on her call light to request help to go to the bathroom. When Wolfe thought an “extended amount of time passed” and no one answered her request, she opted to try to walk toward her walker on her own and fell and broke her ankle. Complications from her ankle injury lead to her death.
Jay Reinan, a Denver lawyer who represented the Wolfe family, said Doris Wolfe did push the button. “As a result of staffing deficiencies, Mrs. Wolfe was left to decide between soiling herself or attempting to go to the bathroom on her own, and that eventually led to her death,” Reinan said. “With a lot of older folks, dignity is important, and that’s what happened to Mrs. Wolfe.”
Ask to see the staffing policies BEFORE choosing a nursing home for a loved one. And do not take take the administrator’s answer as the truth…ask current residents if there are enough staff nurses at the nursing home to provide appropriate and timely care.