Aide claims whistleblower retaliation by West Des Moines nursing home
A dietary aide is suing an Iowa nursing home she says fired her for reporting abuse and neglect to state officials who later verified her complaints.
Shyohnte Shetworth-Ware is suing West Des Moines’ Promedica Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where she worked as a dietary aide from March to July 2022.
Since early 2023 the facility at 5010 Grand Ridge Drive has operated under the name Harmony West Des Moines. Before 2021, it was known as ManorCare Health Services of West Des Moines.
The lawsuit alleges that soon after Shetworth-Ware began her employment with Promedica, she became concerned about “the abusive and undignified way Promedica’s staff members, including management, treated residents.”
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She alleges she witnessed physical aggression toward patients, such as forcibly grabbing an elderly man and shoving him into a chair, and the staff “using profanity and yelling at residents, making them feel like a nuisance and burden.”
In addition, Shetworth-Ware also alleges that residents were not given timely assistance when they called for help and that medications were not being given to residents in a timely fashion.
Worker claims whistleblower retaliation by nursing home management
On July 9, 2022, Shetworth-Ware allegedly complained to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which was conducting an on-site inspection of the facility at that time. According to the lawsuit, Shetworth-Ware then learned that a co-worker had informed Promedica’s human resources staff of the complaint, and on July 11, 2022, Shetworth-Ware was fired.
The lawsuit alleges that DIAL later issued an inspection report indicating it had substantiated many of the allegations in Shetworth-Ware’s complaint.
As part of her lawsuit against Promedica, Shetworth-Ware claims that when she was hired, she completed an online training course that included an agreement to arbitrate any disputes she had with her new employer. The arbitration materials allegedly stated that “all current and new employees will be required to sign arbitration agreements.”
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The lawsuit alleges that the agreement is unenforceable and that Shetworth-Ware’s firing violates well-established public policy that prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers in health care facilities. In Iowa, caregivers in nursing homes are considered “mandatory reporters” who are required by law to report instances of suspected abuse and neglect.
In addition to seeking unspecified compensation for lost wages and emotional distress, the lawsuit seeks a declaratory order from the court declaring Promedica’s employee arbitration agreement to be invalid and unenforceable.
Promedica and its affiliates, ManorCare of West Des Moines and Heartland Employment Services of Ohio, have yet to file a response to the lawsuit. Originally filed in state court, the case was moved recently to federal court.
Numerous complaints substantiated
State records show that on July 28, 2022, shortly after Shetworth-Ware was fired, DIAL completed its onsite investigation at Promedica and substantiated 13 of 14 complaints that it investigated.
The inspectors reported that several residents of the home had complained of neglect as well as rude and inconsiderate behavior on the part of workers.
One resident reportedly said that when residents told the staff they needed something, the workers would “just laugh at you.” The woman allegedly told the state that the staff had yelled at her to not use her call light, threatening that they wouldn’t respond if she did so.
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The resident reportedly told inspectors that “happened quite a bit,” especially on the 2 p.m.- 10 p.m. shift. “Staff will yell, ‘We don’t have time for this,’” the resident allegedly reported, adding that when her roommate speaks up and attempts to help with the situation, “they tell her to shut up and stay out of it.”
While in the building conducting the inspection, one of the state inspectors reported overhearing a worker near the dining room tell a colleague, “If they would get more staff, we could get more s— done,” and, “I haven’t had a break, either, and they keep saying baths need done. They can f— themselves.”
One caregiver allegedly reported that one of her colleagues was mean to residents when they soiled themselves, telling them they were “disgusting.”
The home was also cited for 11 violations, including a failing to treat residents with dignity and respect and a failure to administer medications at the prescribed time. The federal government fined Promedica $15,480 and temporarily suspended Medicaid payments to the home for new admissions.
Gangrene and death cited by inspectors
Early last year, state inspectors cited Promedica for 20 state and federal regulatory violations. The inspectors were at the home to investigate 23 separate complaints — an extraordinarily high number — pertaining to the home’s quality of care. Of those 23 complaints, inspectors substantiated 19.
According to the inspectors, the home failed to properly assess and treat a woman for an anal fissure until a nurse noticed “bright red drainage” flowing from the resident’s buttocks. A few days later, a nurse told inspectors, the woman was “was screaming and you could hear her down the hall.”
The woman was later taken to a hospital and diagnosed with septic shock — a highly dangerous, widespread infection that can cause organ failure — as well as gangrene near her genitals, and a fissure, or opening, in the wall between her digestive tract and her genitalia. She died days later.
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In a separate matter, the daughter of another female resident told inspectors that on Feb. 11, her mother’s roommate had telephoned her at 2 a.m. to report that her mother “was screaming in pain and no one was helping her.” The daughter went to the home, saw her mother screaming in pain due to an arm injury, called her mother’s physician and then offered the phone to a nurse who refused to speak to the doctor.
Later that same day, the daughter again called her mother’s physician who allegedly advised her to bypass the nursing home staff and call 911 to summon an ambulance. At the hospital, the resident was rushed to emergency surgery as she had no pulse in her right arm and her hand was turning black. The hospital staff reportedly told the woman’s daughters they hoped they would not have to amputate their mother’s hand or arm.
The state inspectors’ records make no reference to the outcome of the surgery.
In June 2023, the home, by then known as Harmony West Des Moines, was cited for 29 additional violations and, according to state records, a temporary manager was appointed to be in charge of the facility. Federal regulations allow for such an appointment when residents are considered to be in immediate jeopardy or there is evidence of widespread actual harm.
One of the citations at the home was tied to the home’s alleged failure to notify a male resident’s hospice provider when the man’s condition worsened and he told the staff he felt that he was dying. A nursing assistant later told inspectors she had been crying and not sleeping well because the man had died without family or hospice staff at his side.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected].
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