SCRANTON – A Scranton woman has launched litigation against the home health care firm which she alleges failed to provide proper end-of-life care for her mother, and never offered condolences or provided bereavement services after her death.
Elizabeth Flynn of Scranton filed suit in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 16 versus Revolutionary Home Health, Inc. (doing business as “Revolutionary Hospice”) of Olyphant.
The suit explains that in January 2019, the plaintiff’s mother Ann Flynn was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was advised she could live out her remaining weeks in the home of her daughter, the plaintiff.
At that time, the plaintiff contacted the defendant about the prospect of the defendant providing end-of-life care for her mother, including disposition of the body of Ann Flynn upon her death and bereavement services to plaintiff after her mother passed away. A hospice nurse was to be provided at that time, the plaintiff says.
“In mid-February 2019, Ann Flynn took a turn for the worse. She stopped eating and had a stroke. At approximately 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2019, Ann Flynn’s primary care nurse who was assigned by defendant to provide care to Ann Flynn advised the plaintiff that her mother would likely not live through the night,” the suit states.
“The aforementioned nurse also reaffirmed that if Ann were to die during the night, plaintiff was told to call the 240hour number defendant had designed in the patient care handbook. He even confirmed the number she should call. He specifically directed that plaintiff should not call 911 or the county coroner, as doing so would trigger an unnecessary investigation and/or autopsy and that calling defendant would avoid that.”
Shortly after midnight on March 1, 2019, Ann Flynn passed away.
When the plaintiff called the specified number, no one answered and she left a voicemail. After not being able to reach help for four hours, she made contact with a representative of the defendant, who advised she could not help the plaintiff and directed her to call 911 – something she had previously been told not to do.
It was yet more hours until the defendant’s employees came to remove the body of the plaintiff’s mother, and this was not done until 9:30 a.m., more than nine hours after the decedent passed away.
The suit adds that the decedent soiled herself and the plaintiff was unprepared to change the clothes of her deceased mother. In the aftermath of the death, both the plaintiff and her daughter were traumatized, according to the plaintiff, and never received sympathy cards, condolences or any bereavement services from the defendant.
“Several months after the death and burial of Ann Flynn, plaintiff saw the nurse who defendant had originally assigned to be Ann Flynn’s primary in-home nurse. The aforementioned nurse advised plaintiff that immediately following the death of Ann Flynn and the events of that morning, all employees of the defendant were instructed not to have contact with plaintiff and that is the reason that no bereavement services were provided to plaintiff,” the suit states.
For counts of negligence, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional limit established by this court for arbitration, together with punitive damages, interest, costs of prosecution and whatever other relief this Court deems just and appropriate.
The plaintiff is represented by Michael G. Gallacher of Dempsey & Gallacher, in Clarks Green.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas case 2021-CV-00644
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com