Ohio nursing home faces lawsuit after resident dies following violent attack

by News Release

CINCINNATI, Ohio — An Ohio family has filed a lawsuit against a Cincinnati nursing home, alleging negligence and wrongful death following the death of their loved one, Dolores Niederhelman, allegedly as a result of an attack by another resident.

According to the law firm representing the family, Dolores Niederhelman died four days after allegedly being attacked, with both of her shoulders broken, by another resident at the nursing home. The lawsuit claims that the nursing home failed to send her to the hospital after the attack and that she declined over the following days until she was comatose, eventually dying shortly after being finally sent to the hospital.

The physical assault was reportedly captured on the facility’s surveillance camera, which was placed in Ms. Niederhelman’s room. The lawsuit alleges that the facility not only failed to properly examine Dolores following the attack but also did not inform her family members about what occurred.

The lawsuit, pursued by Michael Hill Trial Law on behalf of Dolores Niederhelman’s family, targets the Three Rivers Healthcare Center, part of the Communicare Family of Companies, one of the largest nursing home chains in Ohio and the United States.

According to the lawsuit, Ms. Niederhelman, who had a history of Alzheimer’s dementia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hypothyroidism, became a resident of Three Rivers Healthcare Center on March 5, 2021. She was placed in a secured unit for behaviors on September 16, 2021, due to her vulnerability and cognitive impairment.

The lawsuit details the events of January 26, 2023, when the video monitoring system recorded a female resident allegedly attacking Ms. Niederhelman in her room, leaving her on the floor distressed. The lawsuit claims that the nursing staff failed to adequately respond to the situation, including failing to contact Ms. Niederhelman’s family members until twelve hours after the assault, failing to accurately describe the incident to authorities, and failing to provide proper medical treatment to Ms. Niederhelman.

Ms. Niederhelman was eventually sent to the hospital, where it was revealed that both of her shoulders were fractured as a result of the attack. However, she continued to decline due to complications from the fractures and developed infections, ultimately succumbing to her injuries on January 30, 2023.

The lawsuit alleges negligence, wrongful death, and violations of nursing home resident rights laws against Three Rivers Healthcare Center, citing chronic understaffing and systemic failures in providing proper care and treatment to residents.

“Our firm is deeply committed to seeking justice for the family of Dolores Niederhelman. The nursing home’s failure to protect its residents and their subsequent mishandling of the situation, from not evaluating the victim after the attack to misleading the family about the nature of her injuries, is utterly unacceptable. This kind of negligence not only violates the trust families place in these facilities but also endangers the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society. We will continue to pursue accountability for these egregious actions to ensure something like this does not happen again,” says trial attorney Michael Hill.

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Ohio nursing home faces lawsuit after resident dies following violent attack

Nursing home with history of problems once again under microscope after resident dies

Source: WBRZ
By: Chris Nakamoto 

NEW ROADS — A nursing home with a history of problems is once again at the center of controversy after a family alleges their loved one died due to the neglect she endured there.

Brad Guerin said he began documenting problem after problem at Pointe Coupee Healthcare, after visiting his 96-year-old grandmother every day.

"She had several issues," Guerin said. "They were leaving her with vomit covered in her bed. They would drop her food trays. They didn't replace them when they dropped them. They would bring food in and not feed her and even after she had a stroke. They would leave it out of her reach."

Guerin said after being in the facility for a few days, Ruby Guerin developed a large bed sore on her foot, deep into her flesh. Her fingernails looked like she had been playing in the dirt. He even captured videos of flies on her face.

"Every time I met with the administrator, initially, it was 'We are sorry,'" Guerin said. "We are trying to educate our staff. That led to meetings with the director and finally the regional director. Then they said, yeah, we know we have a bad reputation here and said it's a chicken-and-an-egg problem. They told me they don't know how to get a good reputation without good nurses, and don't know how to get good nurses with a bad reputation ... like I'm supposed to answer that problem."

In 2020, the WBRZ Investigative Unit exposed a number of problems at the facility.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit found the facility has a history of problems. According to inspection reports available for public viewing then, Pointe Coupee Healthcare had had 13 recent violations, and the facility was fined in August 2019, $36,000 for failing to timely report suspected abuse and neglect. In 2018, the home was also cited for violating federal standards protecting residents from the spread of infections.

As of June 2023, the number of deficiencies have increased to 35.

Due to the problems, Guerin said he filed complaints with the Louisiana Department of Health, which confirmed its investigating.

"We deserve better for our seniors here, and this place should be shut down," Guerin said. "Hopefully our local leaders will look into this seriously this time ... more seriously than 2020 because three years later nothing has changed."

WBRZ reached out to the facility for a response to this story. We did not hear back.

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Nursing home with history of problems once again under microscope after resident dies