The mistake of not taking a 92-year-old resident to the hospital for treatment after he fell, injured his head and died days later will cost a Florida skilled nursing facility nearly $357,000.
An arbitration panel ordered the Manor Pines Convalescent Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL, to pay $356,700 to the resident’s family for funeral costs ($6,700), and pain and suffering ($350,00), the Sun Sentinel reported.
The facility’s attorney, Leonard Blumenthal, said it respected the decision of the arbitration panel.
“The facility is committed to providing excellent care to the community,” Blumenthal told the news organization. “Manor Pines made a business decision to move forward through the arbitration process. While we are disappointed in the decision, we respect the arbitration panel and the process.”
The resident, who had a history of falls, fell and hit his head two weeks after being admitted into the facility. Workers performed an X-ray and cleared him to return to his room instead of sending him to the hospital, the report stated. The resident developed a brain injury and died eight days later.
The family filed a lawsuit against the facility in 2018 before the case was taken over by the arbitration panel, according to the report. The family argued that the facility should have provided more supervision with his history of falls.
