Our Gainesville nursing home abuse lawyers recently filed a lawsuit against Terrace Health & Rehabilitation Center, alleging wrongful death damages. The Greystone-owned nursing home is located at 7207 SW 24th Ave. in Gainesville, FL 32607 and has 120 beds. The facility houses many residents suffering from immobility, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and kidney disease. As a result, the Gainesville nursing home has many residents at risk for bedsores and falls.
Our Wrongful Death Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit versus Terrace Health & Rehabilitation Center
The full text of the publicly filed lawsuit is below:
Complaint for Wrongful Death Damages vs. Terrace Health Nursing Home
DANIEL BERRY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY,
Plaintiff,
vs.
TERRACE HEALTH NH, LLC d/b/a TERRACE HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER and GREYSTONE HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT CORP.,
Defendant,
_____________________________________/
COMPLAINT
COMES NOW, Plaintiff, DANIEL BERRY, as prospective Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY, and files this Complaint against Defendants, TERRACE HEALTH NH, LLC d/b/a TERRACE HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER (hereinafter referred to as “TERRACE NURSING HOME”) and GREYSTONE HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT CORP. (hereinafter referred to as “GREYSTONE CORPORATE”) and alleges:
JURISDICTIONAL ALLEGATIONS
1. Venue is appropriate in this action as the events giving rise to the cause of action occurred in Alachua County, Florida, the subject nursing home is located in Alachua County, Florida and the injured nursing home resident resided in Alachua County, Florida.
2. The amount in controversy exceeds the sum of Fifteen Thousand ($15,000.00) Dollars exclusive of costs and fees and is within the jurisdiction of this Court.
3. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff, ELIZABETH BERRY is/was a resident of Alachua County, Florida.
4. At all material times the Plaintiff, DANIEL BERRY, is/was the son of ELIZABETH BERRY, and resides in Alachua County, Florida.
5. DANIEL BERRY was the Power of Attorney for ELIZABETH BERRY and is the prospective Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY in the process of being appointed same, and is the appropriate party for bringing this action.
6. At all times material hereto, the Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME is a for-profit corporation, which is the licensee of the nursing home known as “Terrace Health and Rehabilitation”, which is located at 7207 SW 24th Ave. in Gainesville, Florida 32607.
7. At all times material hereto, the Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, as the licensee of the Skilled Nursing Facility, maintained employees, agents, and/or apparent agents who assisted Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, in the delivery of nursing home care and treatment to ELIZABETH BERRY pursuant to Florida Chapter 400, et. al.
8. TERRACE NURSING HOME committed tortious acts against ELIZABETH BERRY in Alachua County, Florida, as alleged in subsequent counts. Accordingly, pursuant to F.S. §48.193(1)(b), TERRACE NURSING HOME is subject to the jurisdiction of this Court.
9. At all times material, GREYSTONE CORPORATE was a for-profit corporation that was the owner, management company, managing employee and/or controlling agent/entity of the nursing home in Alachua County, Florida known as “Terrace Health and Rehabilitation”, and maintained employees, agents, and/or apparent agents who assisted Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, in the delivery of nursing home care and treatment to ELIZABETH BERRY pursuant to Florida Chapter 400, et. al.
10. GREYSTONE CORPORATE committed tortious acts against ELIZABETH BERRY in Alachua County, Florida, as alleged in subsequent counts. Accordingly, pursuant to F.S. §48.193(1)(b), GREYSTONE CORPORATE is subject to the jurisdiction of this Court.
11. All conditions precedent to bringing this action have been satisfied or have been waived and this Complaint is being timely filed within the applicable statute of limitations period. A good faith investigation was made and substantiated the allegations against the above named Defendants.
GENERAL FACTS
12. At all times material hereto, the Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME was operating the subject nursing home which was licensed as a nursing home as that term is defined in Florida Statutes §400.021(11). TERRACE NURSING HOME was the licensee of the subject nursing home facility.
13. At all times material hereto GREYSTONE CORPORATE is a for-profit corporation in the business of owning, managing, and/or maintaining nursing and convalescent homes and related health care facilities, including the subject nursing home located in Gainesville, Florida.
14. At all times material hereto, the subject nursing home facility was subject to the provisions of Chapter 400 of Florida Statutes, Titles 10 and 59 of the Florida Administrative Code, and OBRA 1987, as well as all other applicable Florida and Federal rules and statutes, which set the standards for operating nursing homes such as the subject nursing home.
15. ELIZABETH BERRY was admitted to the subject nursing home from North Florida Regional Medical Center on March 30, 2016 following a right-sided intertrochanteric hip fracture and corresponding hip surgery.
16. Upon admission to the subject nursing home, ELIZABETH BERRY was free of bedsores and had intact skin on her backside and on her heels.
17. ELIZABETH BERRY suffered from immobility due to her hip fracture and health conditions. As a result, ELIZABETH BERRY required assistance from nursing home staff to turn and reposition, as well as to keep her clean in bed.
18. Despite this pressure ulcer risk classification, proper preventative measures were not put in place and ELIZABETH BERRY developed multiple areas of skin breakdown and bedsores while a resident at the subject nursing home.
19. ELIZABETH BERRY suffered severe bedsores, injuries, infection, weight loss, dehydration, malnutrition and skin breakdown as a result of the neglect she sustained at the Defendants’ nursing home. These injuries plagued ELIZABETH BERRY until her death on July 5, 2017.
Duty, Breach, Causation and Negligence
20. At all times material hereto, Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME was the licensee of the subject nursing home and operated the subject nursing home.
21. At all times material hereto, Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE owned, operated, controlled and managed the subject nursing home.
22. At all times material hereto, Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE created the rules and policies at the subject nursing home facility. GREYSTONE CORPORATE also controlled the staffing levels and budget at the subject nursing home facility.
23. At all times material hereto, the Defendants, TERRACE NURSING HOME and GREYSTONE CORPORATE, owed a duty pursuant to Florida Statute §400.022 to implement, respect and provide their residents, including ELIZABETH BERRY, with enumerated rights contained within the above cited Florida Statute §400.022.
24. The standard of care for nursing homes such as the one owned, operated and licensed by the Defendants, requires that each resident receive, and the facility provide, the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, or psychosocial well-being of the resident.
25. Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, through its employees, staff, nurses, agents and apparent agents, violated ELIZABETH BERRY’s rights under Chapter 400 and was negligent by:
a. Failing to prevent skin breakdown in ELIZABETH BERRY;
b. Failing to adequately assess skin breakdown risk in ELIZABETH BERRY;
c. Failing to institute appropriate skin breakdown preventative measures for ELIZABETH BERRY;
d. Failing to provide reasonable and adequate nursing care to ELIZABETH BERRY;
e. Failing to uphold rights to dignity of ELIZABETH BERRY;
f. Failing to act reasonable under the circumstances;
g. Failing to uphold rights of patient, ELIZABETH BERRY;
h. Failing to follow state and federal regulations to protect nursing home residents like ELIZABETH BERRY;
i. Failing to provide appropriate nutrition and hydration to the resident;
j. Failing to prevent injury to the kidneys; and
k. Failing to provide ELIZABETH BERRY with safety, well-being, and appropriate healthcare required under Florida Chapter 400, et. al.
26. Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE, through its employees, staff, nurses, agents and apparent agents, violated ELIZABETH BERRY’s rights under Chapter 400 and was negligent by:
a. Failing to properly train its employees and agents in how to prevent skin breakdown;
b. Failing to properly train its employees and agents in how to recognize skin breakdown risk;
c. Failing to implement appropriate policies and procedures aimed at skin breakdown prevention and treatment at the subject nursing home facility;
d. Failing to provide appropriate skin breakdown preventative tools at the facility;
e. Failing to provide enough staff and/or budgetary allocation to adequately care for residents, including ELIZABETH BERRY;
f. Failing to provide reasonable and adequate nursing care to ELIZABETH BERRY;
g. Failing to prevent skin breakdown in ELIZABETH BERRY;
h. Failing to provide appropriate hydration and nutrition;
i. Failing to uphold rights to dignity of ELIZABETH BERRY;
j. Failing to act reasonable under the circumstances;
k. Failing to uphold rights of patient, ELIZABETH BERRY;
l. Failing to follow state and federal regulations to protect nursing home residents like ELIZABETH BERRY; and
m. Failing to provide ELIZABETH BERRY with safety, well-being, and appropriate healthcare required under Florida Chapter 400, et. al.
WRONGFUL DEATH DAMAGES
27. This action is a wrongful death claim, as ELIZABETH BERRY ultimately succumbed to her nursing home negligence-related injuries.
28. ELIZABETH BERRY wrongfully died as a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ negligence, more fully described above and below.
29. As a direct and proximate result of the rights violations outlined above and below, the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY and the survivors of the Estate, including but not limited to DANIEL BERRY (son), are entitled to all damages recoverable for the wrongful death caused by the Defendants, as alleged above and below, including but not limited to:
a. Damages for ELIZABETH BERRY’s bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of the capacity for the enjoyment of life, expensive hospitalization, the value of reasonable nursing services and nursing care provided to ELIZABETH BERRY, medical and nursing care and treatment and aggravation of previous existing conditions, from the time of her injury until the time of her death;
b. Medical bills and expenses;
c. Funeral expenses;
d. Loss of Net Accumulations;
e. DANIEL BERRY and the decedent’s survivors, the children of the deceased, have suffered mental pain and suffering which will continue for the rest of their life, and they have suffered the loss of services and support of their mother, ELIZABETH BERRY, and have incurred medical and funeral expenses as a result of ELIZABETH BERRY’s death, and have suffered the loss of ELIZABETH BERRY’s love and companionship.
SURVIVAL DAMAGES IN THE ALTERNATIVE
30. Alternatively, if these injuries did not cause ELIZABETH BERRY’s death, DANIEL BERRY claims all damages recoverable under a survival action, including but not limited to the non-economic and economic damages of the decedent for bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, and aggravation of a previously existing condition, from time of injury of ELIZABETH BERRY to the time of her death. These survival damages occurred as a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the Defendants’ outlined above and below.
COUNT I
CLAIM AGAINST GREYSTONE CORPORATE RESULTING IN DEATH
31. Plaintiff re-alleges paragraphs 1 through 29 and further alleges:
32. At all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE was the management company of the nursing home.
33. At all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE was the owner/operator of the nursing home.
34. At all material times, the nursing home owned and/or operated and/or managed by GREYSTONE CORPORATE, was licensed pursuant to Fla. Stat. Sec. 400, and held itself to the public, including ELIZABETH BERRY as a nursing home that owed a duty to provide reasonable nursing home care services within the applicable standards of care, including protecting the rights guaranteed under Fla. Stat. Sec. 400, and providing care that met the standard of care for nursing homes.
35. Accordingly, at all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE owed a duty to ELIZABETH BERRY to provide reasonable nursing home care, and to not violate her rights as resident of nursing home, guaranteed by Fla. Stat. Sec. 400.
36. Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE as the manager of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they employed the nurses and/or staff at the facility.
37. Additionally, or in the alternative, Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE as the manager of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff at the facility that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they had actual control of their actions, and the right to control their actions, and thus those persons were agents of GREYSTONE CORPORATE.
38. The negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff of the facility, as described above and below, was performed in the course and scope of the employment and/or agency with GREYSTONE CORPORATE.
39. Accordingly, GREYSTONE CORPORATE is responsible for the negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff.
40. As a proximate result of the Defendant’s deprivation of and infringement upon ELIZABETH BERRY’s Chapter 400 rights as alleged in this Complaint, which includes the above alleged negligence, ELIZABETH BERRY wrongfully died.
WHEREFORE DANIEL BERRY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY, claims all recoverable damages against Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE, and demands trial by jury.
COUNT II
CLAIM AGAINST TERRACE NURSING HOME RESULTING IN DEATH
41. Plaintiffs re-allege paragraphs 1 through 29 and further allege:
42. At all material times, TERRACE NURSING HOME was the licensee of the nursing home.
43. At all material times TERRACE NURSING HOME owed a duty to ELIZABETH BERRY to provide reasonable nursing home care, pursuant to Fla. Stat. Sec. 400.
44. Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, as the licensee of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they employed the nurses and/or staff at the facility.
45. Additionally, or in the alternative, Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME as the licensee of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff at the facility that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they had actual control of their actions, and the right to control their actions, and thus those persons were agents of TERRACE NURSING HOME.
46. The negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff of the facility, as described below, was performed in the course and scope of the employment and/or agency with TERRACE NURSING HOME.
47. Accordingly, TERRACE NURSING HOME is responsible for the negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff.
48. As a proximate result of the Defendant’s deprivation of and infringement upon ELIZABETH BERRY’s Chapter 400 rights as alleged in this Complaint, which includes the above alleged negligence, ELIZABETH BERRY wrongfully died.
WHEREFORE DANIEL BERRY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY claims all recoverable damages against Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, and demands trial by jury.
COUNT III
SURVIVAL ACTION AGAINST GREYSTONE CORPORATE
49. Plaintiffs re-allege paragraphs 1 through 26, 30, and further allege:
50. This survival action is made in the alternative to the above wrongful death claim.
51. At all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE was the management company of the nursing home.
52. At all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE was the owner/operator of the nursing home.
53. At all material times, the nursing home owned and/or operated and/or managed by GREYSTONE CORPORATE, was licensed pursuant to Fla. Stat. Sec. 400, and held itself to the public, including ELIZABETH BERRY as a nursing home that owed a duty to provide reasonable nursing home care services within the applicable standards of care, including protecting the rights guaranteed under Fla. Stat. Sec. 400, and providing care that met the standard of care for nursing homes.
54. Accordingly, at all material times, GREYSTONE CORPORATE owed a duty to ELIZABETH BERRY to provide reasonable nursing home care, and to not violate her rights as resident of nursing home, guaranteed by Fla. Stat. Sec. 400.
55. Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE as the manager of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they employed the nurses and/or staff at the facility.
56. Additionally, or in the alternative, Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE as the manager of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff at the facility that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they had actual control of their actions, and the right to control their actions, and thus those persons were agents of GREYSTONE CORPORATE.
57. The negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff of the facility, as described above and below, was performed in the course and scope of the employment and/or agency with GREYSTONE CORPORATE.
58. Accordingly, GREYSTONE CORPORATE is responsible for the negligent conduct of the nurses and/or staff.
59. As a direct and proximate result of the above negligence, ELIZABETH BERRY developed widespread infection and serious injuries.
60. If these injuries did not cause the death of ELIZABETH BERRY, the Plaintiff alleges all damages recoverable under a survival action, including but not limited to the non-economic damages of decedent for bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, and aggravation of a previously existing condition, from time of injury of ELIZABETH BERRY to the time of her death.
WHEREFORE DANIEL BERRY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY, claims all recoverable damages against Defendant, GREYSTONE CORPORATE, and demands trial by jury.
COUNT IV
SURVIVAL ACTION AGAINST TERRACE NURSING HOME
61. Plaintiffs re-allege paragraphs 1 through 26, 30 and further allege:
62. This survival action is made in the alternative to the above wrongful death claim.
63. As a direct and proximate result of the above negligence, ELIZABETH BERRY developed widespread infection and serious injuries.
64. As the licensee of the facility, at all material times, TERRACE NURSING HOME owed a duty to ELIZABETH BERRY to provide reasonable nursing home care, and to not violate her rights as resident of nursing home, guaranteed by Fla. Stat. Sec. 400.
65. Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME as the licensee of the facility was responsible and liable for the nurses and/or staff that cared for ELIZABETH BERRY because they employed the nurses and/or staff at the facility.
66. At all times material, the negligent conduct of the employees, nurses and staff of TERRACE NURSING HOME was done within the course and scope of their employment or agency with TERRACE NURSING HOME.
67. If these injuries did not cause the death of ELIZABETH BERRY, the Plaintiff alleges all damages recoverable under a survival action, including but not limited to the non-economic damages of decedent for bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, and aggravation of a previously existing condition, from time of injury of ELIZABETH BERRY to the time of her death.
WHEREFORE DANIEL BERRY, as Personal Representative of the Estate of ELIZABETH BERRY, claims all recoverable damages against Defendant, TERRACE NURSING HOME, and demands trial by jury.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been furnished by E-Mail to all counsel on the attached list, this 12TH day of December, 2017.
/s/ Michael J. Brevda
Michael J. Brevda, Esq.
Florida Bar No.: 084048
SENIOR JUSTICE LAW FIRM
1903 S. Congress Ave. Suite 380
Boynton Beach, FL 33426
Phone: (561) 717-0817
Fax: (561) 708-6781
Email: eservice@seniorjustice.com
Attorneys for Plaintiff
