Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Relatives sue over deaths at veterans center
Lawsuit shines spotlight on conditions during rash of deaths
EAST VINCENT » Relatives of five Southeastern Veterans Center residents who died of COVID- 19 have filed a lawsuit seeking undefined damages for what they charge was negligence and civil rights violations.
The suit names the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs as well as Rohan
Blackwell, the 292- bed facility’s former commandant, and Deborah Mullane, the former nursing supervisor.
As of Dec. 8, 111 patients and 71 employees at the state- run facility tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began in March and 42 patients died, far more than at any of the other five veterans homes in Pennsylvania.
As of Dec. 8, each of the five other state- run facilities had fewer than 15 COVID- 19 related deaths.
According to the suit, many of the deaths could have been prevented had the facility followed proper protocols. The suit also charges that the facility routinely lied to relatives about protective measures being taken and tried to cover up the spread of the virus.
The 103- page complaint is replete with heartbreaking instances of illness, loss and mismanagement.
Man Dies After Aiding Roommate
Consider the deaths of Edward Horowitz, 81, whose son Ian lives in Chester Springs; and Edwin Bush, 83, whose daughter- in- law, Wanda Longnecker lives in Cochranville, Chester County.
Admitted to the “personal care” wing of the center in March of 2019, Horowitz, an Army veteran, former Philadelphia police officer and Rittenhouse Square bar owner, shared a room with Bush.
On April 5, 2020, Bush began to exhibit COVID- 19 symptoms, including high fever and diarrhea, according to the suit.
The center “did not treat Mr. Bush or even test him for the virus, other than giving him Tylenol for his fever. Instead, SEVC left Mr. Bush untreated and sick in his room,” the suit read.
“Mr. Horowitz often assisted Mr. Bush to the restroom and would lift Mr. Bush off of the ground after Mr. Bush fell. After two weeks of experiencing symptoms of COVID19, on April 24, Mr. Bush was removed from his and Mr. Horowitz’s room by a group of SEVC employees who were wearing hazmat suits and was taken to the hospital. Mr. Bush died from COVID- 19 on April 30,” according to the suit.
Despite the fact that by the time Bush was removed from the room by the hazmat suit- clad staff Horowitz was exhibiting symptoms, “Mr. Horowitz was abandoned without treatment or tests to ensure his safety,” the suit said.
Five days after Bush was removed, and one day before he died, center staff contacted Horowitz’s son and said his father has tested positive. The next day Horowitz’s son was told his father was “doing well and there was no need to worry.”
However, medical records show the same day his son was told he was doing well, Horowitz “was found lying across his bed, unable to move.” That night, the night staff informed Ian Horowitz his father was extremely sick and should have been hospitalized.
On May 1, Horowitz was taken to Phoenixville Hospital, where he died 10 days later.
Taps Every Morning
Paul Ferko, 87, called his daughters Christina Ferko- Diaz and Katrina Rivera every day in March to assure them that he was fine, but also to say he was worried about catching the coronavirus, according to the lawsuit narrative.
“Mr. Ferko began telling his daughters that he knew people were dying every day at the facility because he could hear taps playing outside every morning,” the lawsuit asserted.
On April 12, he called to tell them something was wrong and he did not feel well. On April 16, they were called by staff to be informed their father had a fever. Seven days later, he was given a chest XRay because now he also had a “moist cough” and the next day was found at 5 a. m. lying on the floor of his bathroom, according to the suit.
On April 21, Ferko- Diaz daughter was relieved when a postponed driveby visit revealed her father waving from the window.
But that relief was short- lived after Rivera was told by an aide that night “Mr. Ferko was so weak that nurses and aides had to hold his body upright during the drive- by visit while another aide waved his arm for him, because he was too sick to do so himself,” the suit said.
Later that day, Ferko fell again, was put on oxygen and was subsequently taken to Phoenixville Hospital “shivering uncontrollably” and still had a high fever. Doctors found his organs were beginning to shut down due to lack of oxygen.
He died seven days later.
Four Deaths a Day
By mid- April, residents were dying rapidly — as many as four in one day — as the coronavirus tore through the home, infecting more than 110 people inside, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in April, in a story that was the first time many relatives began to get a clearer picture of the depth of the problems at the veterans center.
Delaware County resident Fran McDermott testified to a May 6 hearing of the state Senate Democratic Policy Committee that she did not know how bad things were until she read an April 10 Inquirer article “saying COVID had killed 10 people in the Southeastern Veterans Center,” McDermott said. “After I read the story, I called the director of nursing, but still could not get any answers.”
McDermot t , whose mother “watched three roommates die,” contacted state Sen. Katie Muth, D44th Dist., whose district includes the veteran center.
he was not alone. Muth had been hearing from staff about conditions at the center, but who were afraid to speak out due to fear of retribution by Blackwell.
Muth worried that inspections done at the center on May 6 and May 9 were “sham inspections.”
Muth said she was told by staff onsite that on the two days prior to the May 9 inspection, “they were moving people around like crazy to different units on different f loors so they could be in isolation.”
And when the two state inspectors arrived, administrators who normally do not work on Saturdays just happened to be on- site for the “surprise” inspection, Muth said she was told.
Blackwood Leaves Trail of Lawsuits
Blackwood, the center’s commandant, is no stranger to controversy.
The Inquirer interviewed 17 current and former employees at the Southeastern Veterans’ Center, as well as with residents’ families and union officials, for an article published in late May.
The interviews “paint a picture of a nursing home that not only responded slowly to the pandemic but that has been mismanaged for years by top officials, including Blackwood, known as an autocratic leader who retaliates against those who question his decisions,” wrote reporters William Bender, Allison Steele and Vinny Vella.
“Staf f members who spoke to The Inquirer described chronic understaffing — which studies have linked to infectious outbreaks — as well as the altering of medical records to conceal that and other shortcomings,” they wrote.
Blackwood was named as a defendant in four lawsuits filed in Lancaster County against the Golden Living Center in Lancaster, where he worked from 2012 to 2014, each alleging mistreatment of residents due to staffing shortages there, the Inquirer reported.
“Another lawsuit, filed on behalf of a resident who died an ‘ untimely death,’ accused the Lancaster home of making medication errors, failing to prevent infections, and maintaining ‘ fraudulent documentation’ about caring for the resident when she or her caregivers were not even in the facility at the time,” the Inquirer reported.
All those lawsuits were settled.
Prior to arriving at the Southeastern Veterans Center, where he earned $ 119,453, Blackwood worked for 11 months at the Phoebe Wyncote nursing home in Cheltenham Township, the newspaper reported.
On May 26, Blackwood, and Mullane, the director of nursing, were both placed on indefinite suspension from the facility.
By May 30, the veteran center had more than 110 COVID- 19 positive residents between its skilled nursing facility and its personal care unit.
State Inspection Find Problems
But it was not until June 9 that the Pennsylvania Department of Health concluded an inspection that had taken several days and cited the facility for “numerous infractions and deficiencies, including SEVC’s non- compliance with federal requirements for infection control,” according to the lawsuit.
One nurse told state inspectors “that we will be fired for talking to you. Watching people die was awful. We were told to wrap the residents in a body bag and meet the undertaker at the elevator.”
A nursing assistant told state inspectors “I tested positive on April 10, 2020, but back at work on April 12, 2020.”
The lapses put 128 of the facility’s 154 residents in “immediate jeopardy,” according to the Health Department — a legal finding that means Southeastern placed its patients at risk of serious injury or death, the Associated Press reported.
“The June 9 inspection ( report) found that Southeastern didn’t isolate residents with COVID- 19 from residents who had tested negative for the virus; failed to ensure that staff wore protective gear or washed their hands; shuttled nursing staff between COVID- positive units and regular units, and neglected to disinfect equipment,” AP reported.
“The brave men and women at the facility were left vulnerable and unprotected.” — Robert Daley, attorney
“Watching people die was awful. We were told to wrap the residents in a body bag and meet the undertaker at the elevator.” — Unidentified Southeast Veterans Center nurse to state health inspectors
What the Justice System Permits
“The residents of Southeastern Veterans’ Center are individuals who dedicated their lives to protect this nation. When it came time to protect these veterans and their spouses, Southeastern Veterans’ Center failed to take the necessary precautions regarding the COVID- 19 outbreak, and, as a result, the brave men and women at the facility were left vulnerable and unprotected,” Robert Daley, an attorney representing the five plaintiffs said in a press release.
Daley works with the Pittsburgh firm of Robert Peirce & Associates, P. C, which is handling the case in concert with the Philadelphia law firm of Levin Sedran Berman, LLP.
Daley told MediaNews Group his firm has been involved in multiple lawsuits involving nursing homes and confirmed the five plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages.
No specific amount has been outlined, but Daley said the relatives are seeking the damages because “that’s what the justice system permits them to do.”
The suit also alleges civil rights violations, claiming the treatment of the residents who died subjected them to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Daley noted that justice may also be served by the investigation being conducted by the Pennsylvania State Attorney General’s office.