Wellstar Kennestone Hospital complaint alleges skilled-nursing pressure-ulcer neglect and understaffing
The complaint alleges that Wellstar Kennestone Hospital admitted a 62-year-old man on August 8, 2021, after a fall. He arrived with a small, intact pressure injury on his coccyx measuring 2 by 0.4 by 0.2 centimeters. Over the next three months the wound progressed to a Stage IV pressure ulcer with his tailbone exposed. It also spread into unstageable wounds on both buttocks. Wellstar knew he was at high risk for skin breakdown because of his age, incontinence, and impaired mobility. Staff did not implement a two-hour turning and repositioning schedule when he was admitted. His condition required an air mattress from admission, and staff failed to obtain proper preventive equipment. The defendants were chronically understaffed. He was discharged on November 24, 2021, one day after his chart documented no improvement and uncontrolled pain.
Overview
This page concerns a public complaint alleging that a Wellstar hospital’s skilled-nursing unit failed to prevent and treat pressure ulcers during a 2021 stay. It says chronic understaffing contributed to the neglect.
Chronology
The complaint alleges as follows:
- Wellstar admitted the patient, then 62, on August 8, 2021, after a fall, noting a small intact pressure injury on his coccyx.
- By August 24, 2021, the coccyx wound had deteriorated into a purple deep-tissue injury measuring 13 by 8 by 0.1 centimeters.
- By September 30, 2021, the wound was unstageable, extending from the gluteal cleft with drainage, slough, and eschar.
- By October 7, 2021, the wound had spread to both buttocks, each documented as an unstageable pressure injury, one black with 100% eschar.
- On November 16, 2021, the wound was documented as a Stage IV pressure ulcer with his tailbone exposed.
- As of November 23, 2021, the wound showed no improvement and his chart documented uncontrolled pain.
- He was discharged from Wellstar on November 24, 2021.
Alleged failures
The complaint alleges the following failures:
- The nursing staff did not implement a two-hour turn-and-reposition schedule when he was admitted, despite his high risk for skin breakdown.
- Staff failed to provide adequate measures to prevent pressure injuries and failed to obtain proper preventive equipment. His condition required an air mattress from admission.
- Wellstar was chronically understaffed, and staff failed to properly assess, monitor, and document his changing condition.
- The facility failed to notify a physician of significant changes and did not transfer him for a higher level of care.
- The complaint pleads professional negligence, simple and general negligence, vicarious liability, negligence per se, and violations of Georgia’s bill of rights for long-term care residents. It also pleads statutory nursing-home remedies, breach of contract, failure to provide sufficient staff, joint enterprise, negligent hiring and supervision, and punitive damages. It attaches an expert affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1.