March 19, 2009
AMPUTEE SUING HAVEN HEALTHCARE
WEST HAVEN — Willemenia Walden was just 38 years old when both of her legs were amputated above the knee because of bed sores she developed while under the care of Haven Healthcare, according to her family.
That was two years ago.
Walden, a mother of two teenage girls, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her early 30s and can no longer speak or get out of bed because of the disease.
Now, Walden is suing Haven Healthcare and its former chief executive officer, Raymond Termini, claiming neglect and abuse while living at Haven Health Center of Soundview in West Haven. Her sister and former caretaker, Darlene Wilbon, helped Walden file the lawsuit.
“My sister cannot speak. Now, I am her mouthpiece,” Wilbon said by phone Wednesday from Georgia, where she recently relocated.
The Haven Healthcare nursing home chain came under scrutiny from state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal several years ago after allegations of poor patient care and financial problems. The company filed for bankruptcy in late 2007, and reemerged with a plan that sold most of the nursing homes to different operators and put some of the homes into state receivership.
Termini resigned as CEO after it was alleged that he used company assets to purchase a Nashville music recording studio and a lake house.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Superior Court in New Haven, claims Termini’s misappropriation of funds depleted money that should have been used for Walden’s care.
Walden’s attorney, Michael Stratton of the New Haven-based Stratton Faxon law firm, said “Termini’s greed” is to blame for his client’s severe bed sores and amputations.
“We need to take greed out of the system,” he said Wednesday. “This is a great example of greed causing a lot of pain and suffering.”
According to Wilbon, Walden was admitted to Haven Healthcare’s West Haven facility in early 2007 because she required round-the-clock care that Wilbon could no longer provide.
After several visits to the facility, Wilbon noticed a strange smell coming from her sister. The odor turned out to be from deep ulcers that developed on Walden’s feet, ankles and legs that had gone untreated.
When her family brought Walden to Yale-New Haven Hospital, Wilbon said they were told the ulcers were so advanced that the only treatment option was a double amputation.
“Literally, these folks did nothing to rotate her or to make sure her skin stayed intact,” Stratton said. “She had a pressure sore that went down into her bone.”
Doctors at the hospital also discovered that Walden had an old dressing on her leg that had actually grafted to her skin, indicating, according to the lawsuit, “that there was no treatment to her leg ulcers for over one month prior to her admission to Yale-New Haven Hospital.”
The suit claims Walden suffered pain and suffering from the neglect, as well as humiliation and costly medical bills.
Multiple attempts to reach Haven Healthcare, or an attorney for the company, were unsuccessful Wednesday. A phone number for Termini could not be found.
The suit names as defendants Termini, Haven Health Center of Soundview, Haven Healthcare Management, Haven Health Care Trust and Haven Eldercare.
Stratton said Walden is seeking compensatory as well as punitive damages, but he declined to name an amount.
The bankruptcy proceedings, sale of individual nursing homes and reorganization of the company and its management could make collecting damages awarded in a jury trial difficult, Stratton said. He said he hopes if there is a verdict in Walden’s favor, she can collect from Termini or an insurance policy.
Wilbon said her sister is still in a lot of pain and is battling a blood infection related to the amputation. She is living at a care facility in New Haven.
