OREGON, Ohio — Lucy Garcia was 72 years old when she died after being cared for at an Oregon, Ohio, nursing home in July. The Lucas County Coroner's Office has since ruled her death a homicide.
The coroner's office confirmed to WTOL 11 via phone and a report Wednesday that Garcia, who had been living at Arbors at Oregon on Isaac Street with a stage four bedsore over the sacrum died due to medical neglect on July 2. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide, while the cause of death was "caretaker neglect resulting in complications of a sacral pressure wound," according to the coroner's report.
The sacrum is a bony structure attached to the pelvis and a bedsore is a wound to the skin caused by consistent pressure, often suffered by those who are confined to a bed.
"This bed sore is a big open wound on her backside. We're not talking some tear on the skin, this went way down to her bone and exposed the bone on her backside," said Matthew Mooney, the Garcia family attorney.
The coroner's report determined she had sustained the injury sometime between May and June 2024. Her death was caused by complications of the bedsore due to medical neglect. Garcia ultimately died at Mercy St. Charles Hospital.
Garcia's family had reported a decline in her health in the month leading up to her death, the coroner's office said, as well as concern for the level of care provided by Arbors at Oregon.
Mooney says Garcia was loved by her family.
"They're devastated. Lucy was the matriarch of her family. She had a huge family," Mooney said. "She had grandchildren, great-grandchildren. Four sons. And they're all devastated by her loss."
Mooney described Garcia's death at the facility as a betrayal.
"They trusted the Arbors to take care of Lucy, they trusted the Arbors to provide for her, and the Arbors represented to them they could do just that. Clearly they couldn't."
According to the Ohio Department of Aging's Nursing Home Quality Navigator, Arbors at Oregon has an overall score of 3 out of 5 stars. Its quality score is 5 out of 5, while its health inspection score is 2 out of 5. Staffing reports indicate each resident receives an average of 4 hours and 25 minutes of nursing hours per day. The facility was last inspected in October 2022, when it received 23 citations.
In 2019, an employee at Arbors at Oregon was charged with gross patient neglect and involuntary manslaughter after a patient in their care died in 2017. According to court records, the employee pleaded guilty to patient neglect in 2020 and was sentenced to two years of community control.
WTOL 11 has reached out to Arbors at Oregon for comment but did not immediately hear back. We have also reached out to Oregon police for comment and to ask if they have begun an investigation into the homicide, but did not hear back.
This is a developing story. Stay with WTOL 11 on air and online as we bring you the latest.
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