Last week, the family of an elderly patient who was confined to the care of a nursing home in Iowa filed a case against the administration of the facility after finding out how their mother was left soiled and naked on the floor of one of the unfurnished rooms in the facility.
The 74-year old patient, Rochelle Gerhard, died shortly after the incident and her daughter, Kris Gerhard, filed the lawsuit against Madrid Home for the Aging. Gerhard is a mental health advocate for five counties in the state of Iowa. In the lawsuit, she provided details of how, on one of her visits to her mother earlier this month, she found her on her hands and knees inside an unfurnished room, screaming, "I am not a dog!" Gerhard said that the floors were covered with mats and that there was excrement on her mother's body. She said that her mother could have already been kept in that room for about three days. After seeing her mother in that condition, Gerhard recalls, "A nurse came in and said she was sorry, that it was managements decision to do this." She then ordered the nurse to get out of the room and demanded that she call 911 immediately.
According to the lawsuit, the elderly Gerhard was admitted to a hospital facility in Des Moines where doctors said that she wise showing signs of malnutrition and dehydration. Rochelle Gerhard died a few days after that.
Following the serious allegations in the lawsuit, Stated inspectors have launched a comprehensive on-site investigation on the Madrid Home for the Aging and are expected to release a public report containing details of their findings next week. The facility's administrator had already declined requests to comment on and issue. This particular home has already been cited multiple times by the State over the past 18 months and find with over $100,000 because of complaints and issues related to in adequate provisions and care facilities.