Everett nursing home owner settles case for $3.5 million

EVERETT — The owner of an Everett nursing home has agreed to pay $3.5 million to the family of a 97-year-old man for shoddy care he received at the Everett Rehabilitation and Care Center.

A lawsuit was filed in 200

9 alleging that nursing home staff failed to adequately care for a patient who had developed penile cancer and failed to notify the man’s family or his primary doctor that his genitalia were disintegrating.

The state Department of Social and Health Services had cited the home for failing to provide adequate care to the man.

He died March 31, 2008, about two weeks after he was rushed to an emergency room and doctors made the grim discovery.

Lawyers for the man’s family reported Tuesday that they had recently reached a settlement with the nursing home, which is owned and operated by Sunbridge Health Care Corp. Inc., based in New Mexico.

“Settling the lawsuit is in the best interest of all parties in order to bring the matter to resolution,” nursing home administrator Elizabeth Loyet wrote in a statement.

She declined to provide any specific details, citing federal privacy laws about health care.

“We have not wavered in our commitment for the care of our residents. It is our utmost priority and we deliver that care as ordered by an attending physician, in accordance with the care plan designated for the resident,” Loyet wrote. “I want to assure Everett and the surrounding community that our team of caring staff remains focused on providing ethical care and quality of life for our patients and residents we serve.”

The man went to live at the nursing home in 2004 to be with his wife. She had become sick and needed around-the-clock care. She died a short time later, but the man decided to stay at the nursing home, Seattle attorney James Gooding said.

A nurse on Nov. 7, 2007, reported to the home’s residential care manager that the man had a wound on his penis, records show. The manager went on a three-week vacation, and when she returned she forgot about the nurse’s report, according to an investigation conducted by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

She said she didn’t hear anything more about the man’s wound until a doctor at the hospital called on March 14, 2008 — four months later — to report that the man’s penis was gone and instead he had a gaping wound, records show.

“They knew his penis and scrotum were disintegrating and it’s outrageous that no one in his family or his primary care physician were ever notified,” said Matthew Boller, a lawyer associated with the Seattle law firm Graham Lundberg and Peschel.

There was no one nurse or nursing assistant to blame for the neglect, Boller said. The corporation made the decision to open two new speciality units at the nursing home and cut back on its certified nursing assistants, he said.

The nursing assistants are responsible for changing diapers and bathing patients.

“The place was woefully understaffed. That’s why this occurred,” Boller said.

The center’s director of nursing concluded that the man’s wound developed because he wouldn’t allow staff to conduct periodic skin assessments, state records show.

Patients have a right to refuse care, but nursing homes have an obligation to care for their residents, state officials said.

State inspectors determined that the home had failed to meet a federal standard of care. Administrators at the facility were required to submit a plan to make sure the problems weren’t repeated.

No amount of money will compensate for the amount of pain the man suffered, Boller said.

“It is our sincere hope that by establishing a public settlement, (the) case will bring to light the dangers that frail, elderly residents in nursing homes face, and show the nursing home industry that it will be held responsible when profits are put over people,” he said.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Snohomish County prosecutor Kara Van Slyck delivers closing statement during the trial of Christian Sayre at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Jury deliberations begin in the fourth trial of former Everett bar owner

Jury members deliberated for about 2 hours before Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Millie Judge sent them home until Monday.

Christian Sayre sits in the courtroom before the start of jury selection on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Christian Sayre timeline

FEBRUARY 2020 A woman reports a sexual assault by Sayre. Her sexual… Continue reading

Marysville
Marysville talks middle housing at open house

City planning staff say they want a ‘soft landing’ to limit the impacts of new state housing laws. But they don’t expect their approach to slow development.

Smoke from the Bolt Creek fire silhouettes a mountain ridge and trees just outside of Index on Sept. 12, 2022. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County will host two wildfire-preparedness meetings in May

Meetings will allow community members to learn wildfire mitigation strategies and connect with a variety of local and state agencies.

A speed limiter device, like this one, will be required for repeat speeding offenders under a Washington law signed on May 12, 2025. The law doesn’t take effect until 2029. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
Washington to rein in fast drivers with speed limiters

A new law set to take effect in 2029 will require repeat speeding offenders to install the devices in their vehicles.

Commuters from Whidbey Island disembark their vehicles from the ferry Tokitae on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 in Mukilteo, Wa.  (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Bids for five new hybrid ferries come in high

It’s raising doubts about the state’s plans to construct up to five new hybrid-electric vessels with the $1.3 billion lawmakers have set aside.

City of Everett Engineer Tom Hood, left, and City of Everett Engineer and Project Manager Dan Enrico, right, talks about the current Edgewater Bridge demolition on Friday, May 9, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How do you get rid of a bridge? Everett engineers can explain.

Workers began dismantling the old Edgewater Bridge on May 2. The process could take one to two months, city engineers said.

Christian Sayre walks out of the courtroom in handcuffs after being found guilty on two counts of indecent liberties at the end of his trial at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Former bar owner convicted on two of three counts of sexual abuse

A jury deliberated for about 8 hours before returning guilty verdicts on two charges of indecent liberties Monday.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.