Guardian for woman hurt at BSDC files $1.85M claim

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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

The brother of a woman whose legs were broken in February while she was a resident of the Beatrice State Developmental Center has filed a $1.85 million claim against the state

Debra Bauer cannot walk or talk and requires assistance with daily care. The 53-year-old, who has lived at BSDC since she was 5, requires assistance getting out of her wheelchair, with staff using a mechanical lift, according to the claim.

The claim comes as the center, home to more than 300 Nebraskans with developmental disabilities, is under intense scrutiny and could lose $28.6 million in federal funds — more than half its annual budget.

The center doesn’t have enough staff to care for the residents, according to reports from two federal agencies and an advocacy group. State leaders have brought in temporary workers and announced one-third of residents will move to community programs.

Bauer lived in a unit with many other residents in wheelchairs who cannot talk and are either fed through a tube or by staff, according to the claim filed Wednesday by an attorney for Nebraska Advocacy Services.

Chronic staff shortages or inadequate employee training in 2007 and 2008 resulted in a pattern of staff allowing residents, like Bauer, to be “covered with feces and urine-soaked clothing,” according to the claim.

Residents on that unit have suffered fractures or have been negligently dropped because of the staff’s failure to properly operate the mechanical lift or to use the lift at all, the claim said.

Bauer suffered two broken legs between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21, but the injuries were not reported by staff to medical personnel for three to five days, according to the claim.

Bauer’s brother, Mike Ellsworth, said he was shocked when he learned about his sister’s injuries and that the Beatrice staff did not know how they happened.

“It crushed me to think I had my sister there for all this time” believing she was getting good care, he said.

“You have to have some kind of trust and faith that the people are doing an adequate job,” he said.

Bauer’s situation was one of the problems reported by federal investigators with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during its recent visit.

And it was one of the issues that led to three recent “immediate jeopardy” sanctions against the institution.

The center took steps to correct the jeopardy issues but the institution still failed several broader inspection areas.

BSDC staff has failed to maintain a safe environment and provide treatment and appropriate medical care for Bauer and similar residents, particularly those living on the same unit, according to the claim.

After her broken legs were reported, Bauer had surgery for the fractures at a Lincoln hospital and remains in constant pain, according to the claim and her brother.

She is now living in an Omaha area nursing home, according to Ellsworth, who lives in Bellevue.  This is the first time his sister has lived close enough family can visit on a regular basis, he said.

Ellsworth said his biggest concern is for residents who are still living at Beatrice, “especially those people who don’t have guardians and people, like my sister, who can’t tell their story.  There has to be some way to protect those people.”

The claim against the state is the first step in a process that later could include filing a lawsuit in district court if the claim is denied or isn’t acted upon within six months, according to Laura Peterson, state risk manager.

Bruce Mason, litigation director for Nebraska Advocacy Services, says the group, which advocates for the developmentally disabled, also expects to file more claims against the state on behalf of Beatrice center residents.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.