The Greene County coroner’s office is investigating the death of a 94-year-old nursing home patient.
Irene Sansone, a resident at the Golden Living Center in Waynesburg, died of “accidental asphyxiation” Saturday morning. Ms. Sansone’s head got lodged between her mattress and bed rail after she slid off her bed, the coroner's office said..
Greene County Coroner Gregory Rohanna has ruled the death as accidental. Ms. Sansone had lived in the nursing home since August 2013.
Ms. Sansone's niece and caretaker, Stephanie Jupina, said she believes the accident was avoidable, and has scheduled a meeting with administrators from Golden Living Center tomorrow.
"I think this is a serious case of neglect," Ms. Jupina said.
Jackie Hainer, executive director of the nursing home, said the facility has a 24-hour staff, including 106 full-time, part-time and casual employees.
She would not disclose the last time Ms. Sansone was checked on before her death, nor how often residents are checked on throughout the night, citing privacy restrictions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The nursing home issued this statement:
“We extend our sincerest condolences to the family of Ms. Sansone. This is an unfortunate event and we are conducting our own investigation into this matter. As reported by the Greene County Coroner’s Office, the event has been deemed an accident. While we remain focused on delivering quality health care to our patients and residents, our investigation is ongoing and we continue to report the results to the appropriate regulatory agencies.”
The 111-bed, for-profit nursing home was last visited for an annual inspection March 1, according to the Pennsylvania Health Department website.
The Golden Living Center was cited for multiple "minimal harm" deficiencies, which is common on such inspections, and it had corrected those as of an April 29 followup visit, the department reported. The 16 such violations found at the nursing home in the past 30 months were fewer than the state average, according to the website.
First Published: February 25, 2014, 4:51 p.m.
Updated: February 25, 2014, 9:59 p.m.
