• 30
  • November
    2010

An Iowa jury has ruled in favor of the family of an elderly man who died after an accident occurred at a Grinnell, Iowa nursing home. The jury ordered the owners of the nursing home to pay the estate of the elderly man almost $500,000 for its negligence. The accident occurred in June 2009 and the elderly man expected a temporary stay at the nursing home.

The 89-year-old man had only stayed in the nursing home facility for 17 days. He was temporarily there because he was recovering from a hip surgery and was receiving physical rehabilitation. As a part of his recovery, the 89-year-old man's physician ordered tests to be conducted at a local hospital. An ambulance was sent to the nursing home to transport the elderly man to the hospital. Members of the ambulance crew secured the elderly man onto a gurney and moved the man from his room to the nursing home driveway where the ambulance was parked. The elderly man was conscious and in good spirits.

As the ambulance crew moved the man along the nursing home's driveway, one of the gurney's wheels fell into a crack in the driveway and flipped the gurney over. The elderly man struck his head against the pavement and fell into a coma. The elderly man did not regain consciousness and died on July 5, 2009. The family of the elderly man sued the company that owns the nursing home and the private ambulance company.

A jury found that the nursing home was 90 percent at fault, and the ambulance company was found to be 10 percent at fault for the nursing home negligence.

Source: Des Moines Register, "Jury: Grinnell Nursing Home Must Pay $491,747 in Man's Death," Clark Kauffman, 11/23/10