Richard VanHalanger, 83, was independent when he walked into the Cedars of Monroeville nursing home in 2006 for two weeks of rehabilitation before heart surgery.
He drove. He attended church. He played golf.
By the end of two weeks at the home, his daughter, Valerie Warning, said he had lost both strength and pride because of the staff’s actions.
Nurses and aides had used restraints to keep her father in a wheelchair and routinely disconnected call bells he could use to signal for help, she said. Instead of walking with him to the restroom, they forced him to wear diapers and left them soiled, leading to rashes and sores.
After five months in the home, VanHalanger was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and died a week later.
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