Claim filed against local nursing facility

A claim was filed recently against the Golden Living Center of Shafter by Attorney Stephen Garcia on behalf of 80-year-old Margie Faye Shivers. Shivers entered the skilled nursing facility in August 2018 after suffering multiple strokes and a heart attack. The injuries left Shivers paralyzed and need of such a facility to help her recover.

It is alleged in the complaint that during her approximate six-month stay at the facility, Shivers developed an infected Stage IV bedsore on her lower back due to staff negligence. The sore was so severe that it had tunneled through tissue, nearly exposing bone. According to the complaint, staff at the facility hid the sore from Shivers’ family and doctor, allowing it to worsen.

As a result of the alleged negligence, it is claimed that Shivers suffered painful and preventable injuries, and her physical condition has greatly deteriorated. Attorney Garcia said that during the course of Margie’s residency, “the facility systematically and continuously ignored her known needs and wrongfully withheld services required by the standard of practice, as stated in our complaint.”

Dycora Transitional Health & Living, owner of Golden Living, would not comment on the situation.

“The safety and care of our patients is always our primary concern. When an issue such as this is brought to our attention, we immediately look into the situation and cooperate with the appropriate legal and regulatory authorities. In an effort to protect our patient’s privacy, and adhere to state and federal regulations, we are not able to comment on specific individuals,” said Cody Rasmussen, executive director of the facility.

Garcia also said that this was not an isolated incident, as the facility has repeatedly been issued deficiencies by the state Department of Public Health for failure to provide the patient care they are required to perform as a licensed health care facility,

Garcia said that staff knew of Shiver’s condition and that she was at a high risk for bedsores, dehydration and infection. The suit states that these risks were clearly manageable through the application of fundamental nursing principles and safety measures.

It is also alleged that no one from the facility had told Shivers’ family or her doctor about the sore or what was being done to treat the wound, as they were required to do by law.

The suit alleges that in order to cover up the facility’s failure to provide required care, facility nurses simply concealed the condition from Shivers’ family and doctor, and untruthfully stated that nothing was wrong.

On Jan. 21 of this year, Shivers was discharged from the facility to San Joaquin Community Hospital with severe dehydration. When Shivers first arrived there, hospital personnel discovered an infection and tunneling through the pressure wound that nearly exposed bone.

The suit also alleges that “through a plot devised and executed by staff and personnel, they worked to retain as many residents as possible to maximize their profit margin by keeping a large number of residents in the facility for services that are nonexistent or subpar at best.”