State probe finds Duluth facility's neglect allowed resident to drink cleaning chemical

The facility failed to implement safety precautions, the report said


The Minnesota Health Department ruled that operators of Westwood of Duluth senior facility  were negligent when a 70-year-old man inadvertently poisoned himself and died on Feb. 19, according to an article on the Star Tribune website.

A resident at a the senior care apartment complex, who was known for rummaging around for food and drink, downed a cleaning chemical that eventually  killed him three days later.

According to details of the state death investigation released Tuesday, “The facility failed to implement safety precautions” knowing that Nelson “had a history of climbing over the kitchen gate [and] failed to otherwise secure chemical cleaners.”

In response to the death, Westwood staff removed chemicals from under the kitchen sink and put locks on all cabinets, the report said.

Read the article.



May 16, 2019


Topic Area: Safety


Recent Posts

Resilience Planning in Remote Healthcare Facilities

Assumptions about equipment failures and response times change when a hospital is hundreds of miles from the nearest major city.


Missouri Southern State University Opens Roy Blunt Health Science Innovation Center

The project broke ground in April 2024.


HCA Florida Unveils Plans for New Cape Coral Hospital

The planned hospital will be located where HCA Florida Cape Coral Emergency currently operates.


5 Reasons Engineering is the Edge in Healthcare Master Planning

The most successful plans go further to unlock smarter investments, improve resilience and enable better patient outcomes.


Building an AI-Ready Healthcare Facility 

Creating a secure, standardized data foundation can help facilities teams put AI to work more effectively.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

 
 
 
 

Healthcare Facilities Today membership includes free email newsletters from our facility-industry brands.

Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   Posts

Copyright © 2023 TradePress. All rights reserved.