PITTSBURGH - Allegheny County is being sued for a case of alleged deprivation of rights of a nursing home resident at the Kane Scott Center, a skilled nursing long-term care facility, according to documents filed Feb. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
George W. Jacoby is the Executor of the Estate of Patricia Watts, a woman who was admitted to the county-owned Kane Center in 2017 for assistance with chronic kidney disease, morbid obesity and congenital cognitive disability. A Hoyer lift and two Kane employees were required to move Watts, per multiple log sheets, physician's orders and a Care Plan, the suit said.
However, in February of 2019, a sole Kane employee attempted to move Watts on the Hoyer lift; the lift immediately tipped over and Watts fell to the floor, sustaining a tibia fracture, the suit says.
The employee in question allegedly knew he or she should have waited for assistance before moving Watts. Watts died in October 2020 from COVID-19 complications and coronary artery disease.
The deprivation of rights of a nursing home resident is a violation of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act and the Federal Nursing Home Regulations.
The county is being sued for one count of negligence, with damages totaling an excess of $75,000.
The plaintiff is represented by Robert Peirce and Associates, PC.