Gross negligence of a U.S. Army veteran by staff at his Florida nursing home caused his death within three months of being admitted, to the point where his genitals were found rotting, a new report has revealed.
In December 2016, York Spratling, 84, was admitted into Consulate Health Care to receive care during his struggle with severe diabetes, according to Derwin Spratling, York’s nephew, Military Times recently reported.
After he became a patient at the nursing home, York Spratling’s health began to rapidly decline to the point that he could barely walk or feed himself.
84-year-old veteran died after nursing home staff ignored his infected, rotting genitals. https://t.co/f0jyKrkLj4 pic.twitter.com/Z2CjsDuUOB
— Military Times (@MilitaryTimes) December 14, 2018
On Feb. 24, 2017, York Spratling’s health became much worse and he had to be rushed to a local emergency room. York’s family thought his health crisis was a result of his diabetes, but they were wrong.
The doctor who examined York Spratling told the family they had to do surgery on him to “remove dead tissue from his genitals, which had been infected with gangrene.”
The doctor said “he had never seen anything like that before, especially in this day and age,” Derwin Spratling said. “It really freaked us out.”
Lula Price-Brown, York Spratling’s sister, said, “Who was taking care of this man? His private area, nobody washed that.”
Doctors performed the surgery to remove York Spratling’s rotten genitals, but instead of getting better, his condition deteriorated aggressively and quickly.
Not long after, York Spratling died.
“It didn’t just happen overnight, but it was quicker than you could imagine,” Derwin Spratling said.
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration assigned investigators to look into York Spratling’s death and the gross mistreatment he received.
As it turns out, the Consulate Health Care nursing home had already been cited three separate times by the Agency for Health Care Administration for negligence related to York Spratling, including lack of bathing and hygiene.
Nursing home employees told investigators that the “stench emanating from his infection was so bad that it could be smelled from the doorway of his room.”
Five days after staff discovered the odor, they decided to inform a doctor regarding York Spratling’s health, according to the report. His condition was “way past obvious,” Derwin Spratling said. “This is so past obvious that it’s mind-blowing.”
York Spratling’s brother, Obie said, “Everything was about to fall off, it was so rotten.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families issued a report after York Spratling’s death that ruled he had died from “inadequate supervision and medical neglect.”
Since, complaints have been ignored and nothing has been done to rectify the gross negligence at the nursing home.
A patient wrote a complaint that read, “I have not had a shower in I don’t know how long,” according to a report.
A complaint came in from a different patient nearly a year after York Spratling’s death that said, “I wallow around in this bed in my own piss.”
During 2013-2017, 43 negligence or error cases were established, and 54 deaths of residents were under investigation just in the state of Florida. In 32 of those combined cases, nursing homes avoided the consequence of fines and penalties.
