In a lawsuit filed against an Ocala assisted living facility earlier this month, a son claims that the business and its staff were negligent in the healthcare provided to his mother, contributing to her untimely, wrongful death earlier this year.
Thomas Cafaro filed the complaint on December 9 in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County on behalf of the estate of his late mother, Mary Ann Cafaro. The lawsuit names Life Care Centers of America, doing business as The Bridge at Life Care Center of Ocala, and Century Park Associates, LLC as defendants.
The facility is located at 2800 SW 41st Street in Ocala.
According to the filing, Mary Ann Cafaro was admitted to the facility to receive care and supervision for ongoing medical conditions and cognitive changes.
While the complaint does not list an exact date of admission, it notes that at the time of her residency, she was considered vulnerable and at risk for several preventable injuries, including skin breakdown, falls, wandering, infection, malnutrition, and dehydration.
Cafaro alleges that his mother was unable to care for herself and entirely dependent on facility staff for assistance with daily living activities. He claims that the facility failed to provide this required reasonable care and supervision.
In the lawsuit, Cafaro’s attorneys outline a broad range of accusations regarding the facility’s failure to uphold the standard of care. They allege that the facility failed to institute appropriate preventative measures for skin breakdown and pressure ulcers, failed to keep common areas clean of fall hazards, and failed to properly supervise at-risk residents to prevent wandering and “unsupervised ambulation.”
Furthermore, Cafaro’s attorneys accuse the staff at the facility of failing to provide basic hygiene, such as keeping their client’s late mother clean and changing her diapers and linens. Cafaro claims his mother’s nutrition and hydration were neglected, citing a failure to assess and prevent dehydration and malnutrition when it was present.
Administrative failures are also cited in the lawsuit, with Cafaro claiming the facility’s management failed to appropriately staff and train employees and failed to provide appropriate budgeting for operations.
As a result of the alleged negligence, the complaint claims that Cafaro’s mother suffered multiple preventable falls, including one specific incident that resulted in a right hip fracture. The filing further states that staff failed to identify and treat this fracture and that these injuries plagued Cafaro’s mother until she died on August 13.
Cafaro is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for the wrongful death of his mother. The lawsuit seeks compensation for medical and funeral expenses, as well as damages for the loss of companionship and mental pain and suffering endured by Cafaro and all the other survivors of his mother.
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Source: ocala-news
