| Polk County's public hospital is suing a Granger | | | | "I said, 'What? Why is he going to Broadlawns?' " |
| nursing home, saying the nursing home dumped a | | | | she said. "They didn't really have an answer." |
| brain-damaged patient on the hospital and refused | | | | Lora Weatherman said she wanted her brother to |
| to take him back. | | | | go to Mercy because his records were there. She |
| The hospital, Broadlawns Medical Center, says in | | | | said the nursing home overruled her wishes, even |
| its lawsuit that Granger Nursing and Rehabilitation | | | | though she was his legal guardian. |
| Center transferred Edward Weatherman to | | | | She said Broadlawns staff members called her |
| Broadlawns in October 2008. He remained there | | | | about a week later and said that her brother was |
| until he died more than six months later. | | | | ready to return to the nursing home, but that the |
| The nursing home denies wrongdoing. | | | | nursing home wouldn't take him. |
| The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals | | | | "I went to the nursing home, and no one would |
| has heard increasing reports about nursing homes | | | | talk to me," she said. By the time she got there, |
| transferring patients to hospitals, then refusing to | | | | the staff had his belongings packed, she said. A |
| take them back. A department spokesman | | | | janitor helped her carry them to her car. |
| indicated the agency is looking into the allegation | | | | Lora Weatherman said her brother spent most of |
| against the nursing home, which already is on a | | | | his last months in Broadlawns' psychiatric wing, |
| federal watch list of homes with histories of | | | | even though he didn't have psychiatric problems. |
| problems.An independent advocate for patients | | | | She was glad to hear this week that the hospital |
| said incidents like the one that allegedly happened | | | | was suing the nursing home for its actions. |
| at Broadlawns are becoming more common amid | | | | "People shouldn't be treated like that," she said. |
| a shortage of proper facilities for Iowans with | | | | Piper, the patient advocate, said she'd heard |
| serious disabilities or mental disorders. | | | | hospital administrators complain about nursing |
| "This has really been a huge issue in this state," | | | | homes dumping difficult cases on them, but she'd |
| said Sylvia Piper, executive director of Iowa | | | | never heard of lawsuits being filed over the |
| Protection and Advocacy Services. | | | | practice. |
| Weatherman was debilitated by brain damage | | | | Piper said such situations often come up when |
| from an accident four years before his death in | | | | nursing-home administrators believe their facilities |
| May 2009 at age 56. Broadlawns' lawsuit says the | | | | are ill-equipped to handle some residents. "It could |
| nursing home sent him to the taxpayer-supported | | | | very well be there was no other place for such a |
| hospital for stabilization after he "suffered an | | | | patient to go, so the nursing home said, 'Let's just |
| episode of dementia and combativeness." | | | | take him to the hospital. They'll take him.' " |
| Nursing-home employees said they would take | | | | David Werning, a spokesman for the Iowa |
| him back after his condition improved, but they | | | | Department of Inspections and Appeals, said |
| refused to do so, the lawsuit alleges. | | | | finances provide one of the main motives for |
| Christopher Jannes, a lawyer for the nursing | | | | nursing homes to transfer patients to hospitals. |
| home, said the lawsuit's claims are false. "The | | | | Insurance payments don't always cover the actual |
| resident in question was appropriately transferred | | | | cost of caring for people with complicated |
| to Broadlawns, in accordance with the orders | | | | problems. He said he hadn't heard of other |
| from the resident's physician, and the same | | | | lawsuits being filed in such cases, but he wasn't |
| physician felt that the resident's readmission to | | | | surprised to hear that a hospital had become |
| Granger posed a risk to the safety and welfare | | | | frustrated enough to take the matter to court. |
| of the residents who resided there," he said in an | | | | Werning said nursing homes may only discharge |
| e-mailed statement. | | | | residents for one of three reasons: if the patients |
| Broadlawns' lawsuit, filed last month in Polk County | | | | can't pay for their care; if the patients become |
| District Court, contends a hospital is an | | | | violent; or if the patients' symptoms deteriorate |
| inappropriate place for a patient such as | | | | beyond the facility's ability to care for them. |
| Weatherman to spend more than six months. | | | | However, he said, it's usually inappropriate for a |
| Weatherman's sister agreed. | | | | nursing home to send a patient to a hospital, then |
| Lora Weatherman of Waukee said in an interview | | | | refuse to take the person back. |
| that her brother's problems began when he was | | | | The Inspections and Appeals Department can fine |
| struck by a car while crossing a Des Moines | | | | nursing homes for inappropriately discharging |
| street at night in 2004. He suffered brain damage | | | | patients. Werning said he couldn't comment on |
| that left him forgetful, she said. For example, she | | | | whether a formal complaint had been filed in this |
| said, "he always thought I was my mom, because | | | | case. |
| I looked like her." He would become angry when | | | | We are aware of the situation and we are dealing |
| she told him she was his sister. | | | | with it," he said, adding that any state sanctions |
| Weatherman said her brother went to several | | | | would be made public. |
| facilities, including one in Oklahoma, before winding | | | | Broadlawns' lawsuit says the nursing home broke |
| up at the Granger nursing home in early 2008. | | | | state and federal laws governing patient transfers. |
| She said he seemed to get good care there, but | | | | The suit asks for $76,000 in reimbursement for |
| the administration apparently wasn't satisfied with | | | | its costs, plus punitive damages to prevent such |
| payments from Medicaid and Medicare, public | | | | behavior in the future. |
| insurance plans that covered his costs. | | | | The nursing home's Texas-based owner, |
| Several times during his stay at the Granger | | | | Preferred Care Partners Management Group, and |
| nursing home, Edward Weatherman needed to go | | | | a related Texas firm, Pinnacle Health Facilities |
| to a hospital to have his medications adjusted. His | | | | XVII, filed papers this month asking that the case |
| sister said he normally went to Mercy Medical | | | | be transferred to federal court. |
| Center in Des Moines, which is a private facility. | | | | Broadlawns' lawsuit doesn't list a cause of death |
| But then nursing-home staff members told her | | | | for Edward Weatherman, and it doesn't say the |
| they were sending him to Broadlawns, a public | | | | nursing home's actions contributed to the death. |
| hospital. | | | | |