Tuesday, January 29, 2019

‘No one knew she was dead’: Family demands answers after finding relative dead at nursing home

CHICAGO (WBBM/CNN) - The family of a 41-year-old woman has hired an attorney to investigate the possibility of neglect after they found her dead at her nursing home.

Quinita Bullock, 41, had been living at the Mayfield Health Center in Chicago since having a stroke about a year ago that left her unable to walk and with slurred speech.

Late Monday morning, after multiple unanswered calls, Bullock’s aunt and son went to check on her. They found her dead in her bed. Her body was cold.

“Hate that it had to happen to her like that,” said Blondina Hill, Bullock’s cousin. “I just think that’s unbelievable that no one knew she was dead. So, I wonder if my mom and her son didn’t go, how long would it have been before they noticed?”
Quinita Bullock, 41, had been living at the Mayfield Health Center in Chicago since having a stroke about a year ago. Her relatives found her dead at the nursing home. (Source: WBBM/CNN)
Quinita Bullock, 41, had been living at the Mayfield Health Center in Chicago since having a stroke about a year ago. Her relatives found her dead at the nursing home. (Source: WBBM/CNN)
Hill and other family members went to the medical center and began asking questions about what happened. They wanted to know if Bullock woke up that morning and/or took her medication, but Hill says the staff told them nothing.

The staff was supposed to check on Bullock every hour, according to Hill.

“We had filed complaints before about her being on the floor,” she said.

Police filed a report in which they classified Bullock’s death as non-criminal. Afterward, Hill says the nursing home sent Bullock’s body to a funeral home without their consent and without notifying the medical examiner.

Hill says the family wants to know their loved one’s cause of death.

“I really would like to know because she was fine,” Hill said.

Hill filed a complaint with the state Tuesday, and she believes there should be an investigation.

“It’s going to happen to somebody else,” she said.

Bullock’s family says they’ve hired an attorney to get some answers about how she died and to look into the possibility of any neglect. Plans for her funeral have not been made.

Past inspections at the nursing home noted certain requirements not met regarding patient falls and safety, and ProPublica shows 36 deficiencies since December 2015 but no fines.

Full Article & Source:
‘No one knew she was dead’: Family demands answers after finding relative dead at nursing home

2 comments:

StandUp said...

Which means she died alone and afraid. How cruel is that?

Judy said...

Of course there was neglect and the ruling should be immediately changed to Criminal. That nursing home has to be held responsible and should be sued as they should be thoroughly investigated. This is disgraceful and happens all too often in nursing homes throughout the country. How about putting some of that 5 billion or so dollars vs. illegal wall building, into the investigation and cleaning up of All Nursing Homes in USA and carefully screen Staff of Nurses, Drs, Social Workers, Case Workers, and Attendants and…the cost of anyone, older or younger needing to be placed in a Nursing Home either temporarily or permanently should be based according to that person's ability to pay. Most Insurance companies including Medicare and Medicaid should pay in full for excellent, caring, and Kind living conditions.