Arbors at Oregon
According to an autopsy report by the Lucas County Coroner, 72‑year-old Lucy Garcia died on July 2, 2024 after months of neglect. She was a resident for a number of years at the Arbors at Oregon Nursing Home. The Arbors at Oregon Nursing Home is located at 904 Isaac Streets Drive, in Oregon, Ohio. It is a nursing home owned by ARK OPCO GROUP, LLC. It is a for‑profit nursing home with 87 beds. On October 6, 2022, the nursing home was issued a Federal Fine of $9,750.00.
In the case of Lucy Garcia, the Lucas County Coroner ruled her death a homicide from complications of a severe bed sore also known as a sacral pressure ulcer which had advanced to Stage 4 according to the coroner’s report.
Bed sores are evaluated and determined to be in various stages.
- A Stage 1 bed sore is an area of skin breakdown where the skin is not yet open. It is usually a reddened area. The skin is said to be non‑blanchable which means if you put pressure on the skin and then remove the pressure the skin does not go white and then red again like it does with healthy skin.
- A Stage 2 bed sore is open.
- A Stage 3 bed sore is open and deeper than a Stage 2 bed sore.
- A Stage 4 bed sore is the deepest. It extends through muscle and often all the way to the bone.
- An unstageable bed sore is covered in scab or slough so that its depth cannot be determined.
The sacral area or the buttocks area is a very common area for bed sores. When a resident who cannot turn and reposition themselves in a bed or a chair is not consistently turned and repositioned and the pressure relieved from their body, they develop bed sores or pressure sores from that unrelieved pressure.
In the case of Lucy Garcia, the bed sore was apparently all the way down to her bone.
When someone dies under certain circumstances, particularly an elderly person, that death is supposed to be referred to the county coroner’s office. A physician who is not a coroner is not legally permitted to rule that a death is accidental. In this case, the case was referred to the coroner’s office. The coroner has presented its findings to the prosecutor, and local police are investigating.
In 2019, an employee of the Arbors at Oregon was convicted of patient abuse.
If someone you love is a resident at the Arbors at Oregon Nursing Home, or at any nursing home where you are not confident that they are receiving appropriate care, we strongly recommend that you seriously consider moving your loved one to a better nursing home. We realize that moving a loved one, particularly an elderly nursing home resident, can be very difficult. We also realize that it can have an adverse effect on your loved one, particularly if your loved one has dementia. Taking your loved one to a new nursing home, which is a new environment, with new people can be very traumatic for an elderly resident. However, if you’re not confident that they are receiving appropriate care, then you have to seriously consider moving them.
In the case of Lucy Garcia, despite the fact that she was a resident of the Arbors at Oregon for years, clearly she was not receiving appropriate care. She was not being turned and repositioned on a regular basis. Once a resident has skin breakdown, the nursing home is obligated to implement interventions to help heal the skin breakdown. At that point, it becomes essential to offload the pressure from the area of skin breakdown so that that area has a chance to heal. In the case of Lucy Garcia, that clearly did not happen.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1‑800‑OHIO‑LAW as it would be our pleasure to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.