HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 08-06 Community Foundations "at fault" for resident's frostbite injuries MAPLEWOOD REVIEW Community Foundations `at fault'
AUG - 6 2014 for resident's frostbite injuries
Health Department were below zero that night, Some staff members said
and the man was outdoors for the policy was to visually see
issues report on seven and a half hours. When the patient, while others said
he returned, his hands and feet it was acceptable to hear the
security issues were frostbitten and he had a resident snoring or hear a
cut on the forearm. response from a bathroom.
, The report said the man was Regarding the bed check on
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Tim Faklis `;� 1 e,; , ' , "I " disoriented from being out the missing man, a staff mem-
Review staff `r A'; , .,, doors in the snow and could ber called out and thought the
not say where he had been. resident responded "hey" or
1. The man had been admitted "OK" through the rest room
The Minnesota Department to the facility just five days ear- door.
of Health has found a Maple- ,;; her Describing the incident as
wood residential care facility at . The residential treatment very unfortunate, Schneider
fault for an incident involving center is owned by the non- said the main issue he heard
a mentally ill client who wan- profit South Metro Human from health department offi-
dered away from the building Services, which runs 16 cen- vials was that "they didn't feel
on a frigid March night. Community Foundations in Maplewood was found"at fault"for ters, including the Maplewood our policy had enough detail",
Community Foundations, an incident in which a resident wandered off in the middle of a facility. Terry Schneider, board and the bigger issue was how
1096 Gervais Ave., was found cold March evening. chair, psychologist and director the checks were carried out.
to be negligent for not alerting of clinical services, spoke to the Ultimately, he said it was
employees who arrived for the check the male patient's room. closed, left the unlocked facil Review about the incident. an isolated event, and nothing
overnight shift that a vulner- The worker entered and saw ity sometime after 10:30 p.m. "This was a horrible event, similar had happened since.
able adult wasn't present in the the light was on and the bed and returned shortly around 6 and the staff feel really badly When asked if he could com-
building. was unmade. Instead of locat- a.m. about that," he said. "That's ment on the internal reaction
The facility was also repri-
in the man, the employee He had been diagnosed with the first thing I want to get when the incident took place,
assumed he was in the rest- mental illness and had chemi- "
mended for failing to follow across. he was frank in his answer.
through on a nightly bed check room and chose not to investi- cal dependency issues. The Employees indicated to the "I can not,"he said.
to ensure that the resident gate further. report said he sustained Seri Department of Health that
hadn't strayed off. According to the report ous injuries from the incident beyond the requirement that You can reach Tim Faklis at
According to the report, at drawn up by the Health and had to be hospitalized bed checks be made, they had 651-748-7814, at tfaklis @lil-
3 a.m., an employee went to Department, the man, whose According to the Health differing interpretations on lienews.com, or on Twitter @
name and age were not dis- Department, the temperatures how to conduct them. tfaklisnews.