Nursing Home Lawsuit Article  

Money awarded in nursing home suit

Charleston, S.C.
HERB FRAZIER
Mar 20, 2003

Copyright The Post and Courier Mar 20, 2003

AH: But jury says facility did not cause man's death

A jury's award in one lawsuit and a settlement in another Wednesday gave the family of a retired James Island firefighter $950,412 in a wrongful death claim filed against a Mount Pleasant nursing home.

After deliberating for 3-1/2 hours, jurors found that alleged negligence at Charleston Nursing Center did not cause the premature death of 70-year-old Raymond Hollingsworth, who moved to the home 15 months before he died in October 2000.

But jurors did say that a series of large bedsores that developed over Hollingsworth's body while he was in the home's care led to the amputation of his left leg and reduced his quality of life.

As a result, jurors awarded Hollingsworth's family $866,412.

In addition to that award, the nursing home's owner, James Connelly of Sullivan's Island, and his management company, Connelly Management Inc., agreed to settle a second suit for an additional $84,000.

"I am glad it is over," said Hollingsworth's widow, Jean, after a 10-day trial at the Charleston County Judicial Center.

Hollingsworth's son, Donald, said, "I just hope and pray this will bring them out in the light so no other person will have to suffer the way my father did.

"They stripped him of his dignity," Donald Hollingsworth said. "That is the only thing we tried to do is give my father a quality of life to let him die in peace. But they took that away from him."

Charleston attorney Dwayne Green, who represented Connelly, and Greenville attorney Sam Outten, who represented the nursing home, issued a joint statement. "We are very pleased that the jury found that we did not cause Mr. Hollingsworth's death," the lawyers said. "We had a fair trial and accept the jury's decision on the survival action."

Jean Hollingsworth originally sued in August 2000 as an injury claim while her husband was a resident of the home, said Charleston attorney Steve Butaitis. After Hollings-worth's death, the lawsuit was refiled as an injury and wrongful death claim, the lawyer said. The jury found for Jean Hollingsworth on the injury claim, but returned a verdict in favor of the nursing home on the death claim.

Jean Hollingsworth sued Connelly and his nursing home management company in April 2002. Connelly's decision to settle the lawsuit stops a second trial that was scheduled to start today, Butaitis said. The lawsuit against Connelly alleged that the poor care the home gave Hollingsworth was a result of significant staff shortages, low pay and high turnover, said Charleston attorney Jackie Rion, who also represented Hollingsworth.

Donald Hollingsworth testified that his family tried to take his father, who had Alzheimer's disease, out of the Bowman Road nursing facility, but couldn't find another home in the Charleston area that would accept him.

According to testimony, nursing home records showed that Hollingsworth received care by staff members on days that employee time cards showed they were not working. Evidence also showed that Hollingsworth received care at the home on days when he was being treated for bedsores in a local hospital.

In the lawsuit, Jean Hollings-worth said when she moved her husband to the home on July 22, 1999, she was told that it was Charleston's finest nursing center, and it had a special care unit for Alzheimer's patients.

While in the home, Hollingsworth lost 82 pounds and suffered nine bedsores that extended to or near his bone, according to testimony. One bedsore on his lower back was so severe that his bone was exposed, witnesses testified. The nine bedsores developed in 47 days after he was admitted to the nursing home, Butaitis said.

Hollingsworth had been admitted twice to a local hospital for treatment of bedsores. When Hollings-worth was admitted the second time in September 1999, a bedsore was so severe that doctors amputated his left leg below the knee.

Credit: Of The Post and Courier Staff

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