Latest news with #CareInitiativesof
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Iowa nursing home chain faces third whistleblower-retaliation lawsuit
The corporate headquarters for Care Initiatives in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth) One of Iowa's largest nursing home chains is facing a lawsuit filed by a former nurse alleging a form of whistleblower retaliation. It is the third such lawsuit that Care Initiatives of West Des Moines has faced in the past year. The company operates 44 care facilities in Iowa. In the most recent case, Tina Weber of Clemens alleges that from May 2021 through October 2024, she worked as a registered nurse at an unspecified Care Initiatives facility in Marshall County. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The lawsuit alleges that on Oct. 5, 2024, Weber witnessed an incident involving a resident in a wheelchair with schizophrenia and a human resources worker. According to the lawsuit, the two were engaged in an argument and when the schizophrenic resident attempted to leave in his wheelchair, the human resources worker grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, causing the resident to fall out of the wheelchair to the ground. Weber reported the incident to the assistant director of nursing and recorded the incident in the resident's chart. The next day, Weber alleges, the home's director of nursing texted Weber, writing, 'Could you strike out original note and when putting in about the wheelchair say she was assisting with the wheelchair and he put himself on the ground as she tried to de-escalate him and explain that he was not allow to smoke and the policy?' Weber allegedly responded, 'So not the truth?' On Oct. 11, 2024, an administrator allegedly asked Weber to change her account of the incident in the resident's chart. Weber refused. Later that same day, the lawsuit alleges, a corporate employee of Care Initiatives instructed Weber to change the resident's chart so it didn't indicate the resident's fall was the result of an altercation with the staff. Weber again refused and, the lawsuit claims, she then reported the incident to state regulators who forwarded it to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which oversees nursing homes. Five days later, a state inspector visited the nursing home to investigate the matter, the lawsuit alleges. The next day, the lawsuit alleges, Care Initiatives fired Weber. The lawsuit claims the company fired Weber due to her reports and complaints regarding the health, safety, and well-being of one of its residents. The lawsuit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages for Weber's firing. Care Initiatives has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The company did not respond to calls this week from the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Over the past year, Care Initiatives has been the target of two other lawsuits alleging a form of whistleblower retaliation. Kandus Jellison, who worked at the chain's Oakwood Specialty Care in Albia, has alleged she was fired in June 2022 after she intervened on behalf of a resident who was refused hospital care and then helped the man call 911. Jellison sued Care Initiatives in part for violating the Iowa law that bars employers from taking action against workers for reporting dependent adult abuse or assisting with an abuse-related complaint or investigation. Care Initiatives argued that while it's a crime for a company to retaliate against workers who assist with abuse investigations, the Iowa Legislature didn't intend for workers to use such a violation as the basis for a civil lawsuit. A judge agreed and dismissed one element of the lawsuit, but let the remainder of the case proceed. Care Initiatives has denied any wrongdoing. A trial is scheduled for March 30, 2026. In May 2024, Stephanie Schlegelmilch sued Care Initiatives, alleging that while working as the director of nursing for the chain's Avoca Specialty Care she was terminated in violation of public policy. She alleged that she was fired shortly after she confronted a regional nurse for Care Initiatives and questioned why she wasn't wearing a mask during a COVID-19 outbreak in the home. As part of her lawsuit, she also alleged she had several 'tense conversations' with management about the company's alleged practice of admitting new residents to the home even when it was not adequately staffed to provide a safe environment for residents. Care Initiatives denied any wrongdoing. According to court filings by attorneys for both sides in that case, the lawsuit was resolved in December 2024 with an out-of-court settlement. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nursing home sued after resident falls down concrete stairs in wheelchair
The Odebolt Specialty Care nursing home in Sac County, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth) A western Iowa nursing home is facing a lawsuit filed by a woman who fell down a flight of concrete stairs at the home while seated in a wheelchair. Elaine Gunderson of Battle Creek, Iowa, is suing Odebolt Specialty Care and its owners, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, for negligence and breach of contract. The lawsuit alleges that on July 2, 2024, the 88-year-old Gunderson was found at the bottom of a set of 13 concrete stairs that led from the kitchen to the basement of the home. Although the kitchen was considered a restricted area from which residents were barred, a staff member had allegedly propped open the door, allowing Gunderson to wheel herself into the area. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The home has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. According to state inspectors' reports, Gunderson had propelled herself into the kitchen, through two more doors, and then toppled down the stairs leading to the basement. She was later found by a kitchen worker who heard someone yelling for help. Gunderson had lacerations to her forehead and left forearm, and an injury the staff described as a 'huge gash' in her cheek. She was transported to a hospital where, according to inspectors, the records indicate Gunderson was admitted with a head wound that required seven stitches to close as well as 'bruises on her head, hands, legs, hips, both eyes and all over basically.' The lawsuit alleges that Odebolt Specialty Care was charging Gunderson $342 per day for its services. She had lived in the facility since 2013. As a result of the accident, the state proposed but then held in suspension a $9,000 fine. Federal officials imposed a fine of $14,433. Court records indicate there are at least 14 other lawsuits currently pending against the Odebolt facility's owners, Care Initiatives. Thirteen of those cases are tied to resident deaths, and one stems from an incident involving a male intruder who was found in bed with a female resident at a Care Initiatives facility. The lawsuits allege negligence at Care Initiatives facilities located in Pleasant Hill, Wapello, Albia, Fonda, Corydon, Waterloo, Marshalltown, Avoca, Oskaloosa, Centerville, West Branch and Corning. Several of the cases have been stayed by the courts with the plaintiffs ordered to bring their case before an arbitrator. Care Initiatives did not respond to the Iowa Capital Dispatch's requests for comment.
