2nd lawsuit targets Lower Burrell nursing home over death blamed on rogue nurse

by Jonathan D. Silver

Heather Pressdee

A second lawsuit was filed Thursday against a Lower Burrell nursing home over the death of a resident injected with a lethal dose of insulin, one of numerous victims whom authorities said were targeted by a rogue nurse during a yearslong killing spree.

The 15-count lawsuit against Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center was filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court by Russell Colwell III of West View.

Colwell, 37, and his attorneys claim his grandmother, Mary Colwell, was a victim of former nurse Heather Pressdee, who is in jail awaiting trial on numerous murder and attempted homicide charges.

Colwell was 92 when she died Dec. 28, 2021. For two years, her family thought she died from natural causes.

But, this fall, investigators with the state Attorney General’s Office informed the family they were looking into her death as being the result of a criminal act by Pressdee, who was arrested in May.

That news stunned Colwell’s survivors — her five grandchildren — who believe her death could have been prevented had Belair followed more stringent hiring practices and better monitored patients’ blood sugar levels.

“All of that has really weighed on the family and is something they’re still processing,” Brandon Keller, one of their attorneys, said Thursday. “These were the people ultimately responsible for her care and failed miserably.”

Julie Beckert, a spokeswoman for Belair, said the nursing home’s parent company, Guardian, could not comment because it had not yet seen the lawsuit.

Pressdee’s criminal defense lawyers said Thursday they had no comment on a civil matter. They are busy trying to hammer out a plea deal with prosecutors while Pressdee awaits trial.

Investigators said Pressdee was fired or forced to resign from a dozen nursing homes and rehabilitation centers because of abusive conduct toward residents or staff, including a half-dozen facilities where she worked before Belair.

She is accused of killing or trying to kill at least 22 residents at multiple facilities by injecting them with insulin, though in many cases the alleged victims were not diabetic. The insulin caused severely low blood sugar levels and death, authorities said.

Pressdee confessed to administering the insulin, according to investigators.

Colwell, one of eight children, lived in New Kensington, loved the beach and taught swimming at a YMCA. She was a congregant at The River Community Church in New Kensington. Her three children and husband died before her.

She had dementia when she was admitted to Belair in November 2021 after a fall. Pressdee had been hired earlier that year as an assistant director of nursing despite what Colwell’s attorneys called an “alarming history of resident abuse at prior facilities.”

Colwell’s lawyers pointed to that history as evidence of flawed hiring practices at Belair.

They also mentioned allegations of troubling behavior by Pressdee at Belair and suspicions by co-workers that she was harming residents, all previously documented by investigators. Guardian administrators were aware of the rumors about Pressdee, but did nothing, the lawsuit claims.

Around that time, the state Department of Health inspected Belair and found problems with the facility failing to notify doctors about problems with residents’ high blood-sugar levels, leading to the death of one person.

Inspectors found that Belair residents were in “immediate jeopardy.”

They even interviewed Pressdee, who admitted to not following protocols.

Despite that, the lawsuit claims, Belair “failed to further investigate Pressdee after she admitted to the Health Department that she did not comply with the resident’s care plan and facility policy.”

Two nights before Colwell’s death, medical records showed that she was in a “pleasant” mood, the lawsuit said. The next day, Pressdee took over Colwell’s care and spent “excessive amounts of time with her,” according to the lawsuit.

On the day she died, Colwell took a rapid turn for the worse. Pressdee took her vital signs — but did not measure her blood sugar, the lawsuit said. At 11 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2021, an occupational therapist tried to go into Colwell’s room, but the lawsuit claims that Pressdee asked her to leave and later insisted that Colwell not be touched. She died about two hours later.

Investigators said Pressdee admitted to giving insulin to a resident identified only as M.C. All her alleged victims are listed only by initials in the criminal complaints, but all other details about M.C. match Mary Colwell.

Pressdee left Belair in February 2022. Colwell’s lawyers wrote that she was terminated for abusive behavior toward residents and staff.

The lawsuit alleging wrongful death and corporate negligence was filed just under the two-year statute of limitations. It was filed in Allegheny County, where Guardian does business, lawyers said. Colwell is seeking damages and a jury trial.

In October, attorney Robert Peirce sued Belair in connection with the Sept. 28, 2021, death of Marianne Bower, a 68-year-old grandmother of seven, allegedly at Pressdee’s hands.

Investigators said Pressdee was responsible for at least five deaths at the facility.

In the Bower case, Pressdee sent a sympathy card and gift to the family after Bower’s death, according to the lawsuit.

Both complaints name as defendants Belair, its parent company Guardian, and numerous interrelated legal entities.

Full Article & Source:
2nd lawsuit targets Lower Burrell nursing home over death blamed on rogue nurse

See Also:
Former nurse Heather Pressdee now linked to 17 nursing home deaths