94-year-old man boiled to death in hospital hot tub after staff failed to make ‘$250 repair’ and left him in 134-degree water for 47 minutes .
Four nurses at Hopemont Public Hospital in Terra Alta, located in Preston County, West Virginia, were fired following the January incident.
Disability Rights West Virginia Legal Director Mike Folio, who investigated the death, told West Virginia Watch: ‘Even though he screamed in pain, we couldn’t hear him. His skin melted.
The man, who died from the scalding water, was nonverbal.
Folio claims hospital staff knew about a broken thermostat a month before the death, but made no effort to repair it. He told MetroNews, “This gentleman lost his life because someone didn’t step up and do a $250 repair.”
The man, who has not been named, suffered from dementia and required 24-hour care, but was left unattended in the bath for almost an hour.
A man died in early January at Hopemont Public Hospital in Terra Alta, located in Preston County.
Mike Folio investigated the man’s death and said it was the most “egregious” case he had ever seen.
The man was a long-term patient at the Hopemont Hospital public nursing home.
He was placed in the bath by staff and left there for 47 minutes, in waters that reached up to 134 degrees Fahrenheit, well above the standard maximum temperature of 100 degrees.
Folio said: “Imagine someone who is elderly, non-verbal and suffering from dementia, left unattended in boiling water.
“Even though he was screaming in pain, he couldn’t be heard because he wasn’t verbal.”
After his death, the West Virginia Department of Health Facilities said they experienced an “equipment malfunction.”
A spokesperson said: “A thermostat on a water tank serving a residential unit failed, resulting in unsafe water temperatures. Subsequently, a resident of the facility was treated for burns.
They added: “As a precaution, patients are being taken to other units to bathe while staff repair the problem. This is an isolated incident and no other patients are in danger.
But Folio says the man’s death could have been avoided since staff had known about the broken thermostat for a month.
He told KDKA-TV: “About 30 days before this episode, one of the nurses at Hopemont sent an internal email informing the staff of their hot water issues and specifically stated that there was a fear that patients could get burned.”
Even though he knew there was a risk, he said they made no effort to make the “$250 repair.”
Four nurses at the hospital were fired after his death – three of them were contract nurses
Folio says the man’s death could have been avoided since staff had known about the broken thermostat for a month.
Since this death, four nurses – including three contract workers – have been dismissed.
Folio said: “This is truly the most egregious case I have seen.”
Annie Moore, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Facilities, told West Virginia Watch:’Hopemont Hospital administration and DHF have taken steps to prevent future events, including providing training to staff on monitoring water temperatures before and while bathing residents and making repairs and improvements to the facility’s hot water system.
A spokesperson for the Preston County Sheriff’s Department told the outlet its investigation is ongoing and they cannot release any information.
Matthew Keefer, DHF Deputy Commissioner, told West Virginia Watch, “Keeping residents safe is our number one priority.
“Every time a resident is injured in our care, we must exhaust all resources and conduct a thorough investigation to ensure this does not happen again.” »