The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

During the night of February 5 this year in Itasca, IL, an 89-year-old nursing home resident, one Sarah Wentworth, wandered out the door. She wore only her nightgown. As a dementia patient she was wearing an ankle bracelet that set off an alarm at the nurses’ station. However the nurse on duty at the time was watching a television show and did not get up to investigate.

At about 5 a.m. Wentworth was found dead outside the nursing home and her body was placed in her bed. Nursing home personnel claimed that she died in her sleep. Later it was noticed that her body was cool to the touch – cooler than room temperature. Police then began an investigation into her death.

The medical examiner listed hypothermia as one of the causes of death. Hypothermia is a very low body temperature, too low to sustain life. Investigators have found that she must have been outdoors for about an hour and a half before her body was found.

Wentworth was a frail woman who could not get up out of bed or dress herself without assistance. She had lived for over two years at this nursing home. One of the home’s policies requires staff to look around in the area between the nursing station and the courtyard door whenever an alarm goes off.

• How did she manage to go through two doors that both had alarms, especially since she needed a walker to get around?
• Had she been left up all night?
• Did someone help her out of bed and give her the walker and then disappear?

Wentworth’s daughters have filed a wrongful death suit against the facility – The Arbor Nursing Home – in Cook County Circuit Court. The suit claims that the nursing home and its staff failed to provide proper resident supervision and medical care, and that the home failed to train its staff adequately.

The court has ordered an inspection of the nursing home and the family is conducting its own investigation. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, this facility has had fourteen complaints filed against it in the past twelve months.

Nursing home neglect is a type of elder abuse and is actionable. Our attorneys have a great deal of experience in prosecuting it. If you have a loved one who has been mistreated in a nursing home, please contact our nursing home abuse lawyers to schedule a free consultation.