Assisted Living Center Sued Over Elopement and Death of 85-Year-Old Resident
The widow of an 85-year-old veteran, who had only been a resident of a Florida assisted living center for a couple of months, recalls how difficult it was to leave on her last visit with him. She said he had tears in his eyes and told her he wanted to go home, but she could not do what he wanted. He had Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and some other health issues that were too advanced for her to care for him at home because he needed around-the-clock care.
The wife alerted the staff about the resident’s strong feelings of wanting to go home; however, about an hour after her visit, the man was able to leave the facility through the front door after a visitor opened it for him. A video showed him leaving and then running away from the facility at 3:33 p.m. He was not missed until after 5 p.m. when staff were serving dinner to the residents. The facility’s director of nursing looked at the video at 5:30 p.m. but waited for 15 minutes before calling 911 and did not call the man’s wife until 6 p.m.
Although volunteers searched for several days, and the family of the resident organized a large search party ten days after the man eloped, the man was not found until nearly three weeks after he fled the facility. His body was found in the backyard of a residence about a mile from the assisted living center.
The lawsuit claims that the facility was negligent and provided inadequate oversight of the resident to prevent his elopement and death. The facility’s administrator and director of nursing are both named as defendants in the suit. The administrator of the facility declined to comment about the lawsuit.
A civil jury trial is scheduled for September 3, 2019.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to provide adequate oversight of residents with dementia and other serious medical issues, which might allow them to elope from the facility unnoticed through entrances and exits, may place residents in immediate jeopardy and be considered provision of substandard quality of care in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding provision of adequate oversight of residents with dementia and other serious illnesses and securing exits to prevent residents from eloping from the building.
- Train staff to be alert to residents who are desirous of leaving and going home, and provide sufficient oversight of residents in order to be immediately aware should a resident leave the facility unaccompanied.
- Periodically audit the security of the facility’s entrances and exits to determine if there are protocols in place to prevent residents from leaving the facility unaccompanied at any time—day or night. Update elopement risk assessments on a scheduled and as needed basis.
