A pressure ulcer led to the death of Sam Frank Ray, a patient at the Arbors at Sylvania in Toledo, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. The lawsuit alleges that staff failed to reposition Ray and take him to the toilet, leading to the development of a lethal infection.

Pattern of Neglect

This is not an isolated incident. At least 11 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against Arbors facilities in Ohio since January 2024, accusing the chain of negligence and medical errors that caused patients’ deaths. State inspectors have also flagged patient deaths and treatment errors at Arbors homes.

Lawyers suing the facilities claim that thin staffing led to preventable falls and bedsores that caused patients’ deaths. The estates of several deceased patients have filed wrongful death lawsuits, including the estate of Lucy Garcia, who died from an infected bedsore at the Arbors at Oregon.

Regulatory Action

The Ohio Department of Health has fined Arbors facilities on 18 occasions for a total of over $648,000. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has also fined the facilities, including a $35,000 fine against the Arbors at Milford for a patient’s death due to a nurse’s failure to notify staff physicians of a worsening diabetes attack.

Despite these fines, the facilities continue to receive significant revenue from Medicaid payments. The Ohio Department of Medicaid has paid Arbors facilities a total of $233 million in revenue over the past three calendar years.

Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.