- An elderly, non-verbal man died in January after being left in hot water at Hopemont Hospital in West Virginia
- The West Virginia Disability Rights Organization, which investigated the incident, reportedly said the victim was in the 134-degree water for at least 47 minutes
- Four people connected to the incident no longer work at the Terra Alta nursing facility, according to the West Virginia Department of Health Care Facilities
Four people have been discharged from a state-run long-term care facility in West Virginia after an elderly man died in January when he was left in a hot tub.
The incident occurred Jan. 4 when a thermostat for a water tank serving one of the residential units at Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta failed, “resulting in a hazardous water temperature,” according to a Jan. 5 news release from the West Virginia Department of Health Facilities.
One resident was later “treated for burns” following an “equipment failure,” DHF said in a statement.
Disability Rights of West Virginia, which investigated the incident, said the water was about 134 degrees Fahrenheit when the victim entered the whirlpool, where she remained for at least 47 minutes, according to West Virginia Watch and CBS affiliate KDKA.
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Mike Folio, legal director for DRWV, told West Virginia Watch that the person was “non-verbal” and had dementia. He said the victim’s “skin melted” from the hot water and claimed hospital staff were aware of the fault before the man’s death.
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“This is truly the largest case I have seen,” Folio noted, according to the newspaper.
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Two contracted staff members were “immediately removed” from the facility’s schedule following the incident, DHF said in its January statement.
The four nurses involved in the case “no longer work at Hopemont Hospital,” DHF said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Folio told KDKA that an employee sent an internal email about the water heating problem about 30 days before the Jan. 4 incident.
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The email, he added, expressed concern that people would get burned. “It’s a system failure, from top to bottom,” Folio said.
Meanwhile, DHF Cabinet Secretary Michael J. Caruso said “patient safety” at those hospitals is “of the utmost importance,” adding that the agency takes these types of incidents “very seriously.”
“Please be assured that all patients are being cared for and we are committed to fully cooperating with the police and all investigative agencies as this investigation continues,” Caruso said in a Jan. 5 DHF press release.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education