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Beaumont Rehabilitation of Westboro among nursing homes ordered to correct systemic failures

Telegram & Gazette - 3/13/2019

March 13-- Mar. 13--Attorney General Maura Healey Wednesday morning announced penalties and reforms after a major statewide investigation found systemic failures at seven nursing homes, including Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Westboro, that led to the deaths of five residents and several injuries.

The facilities will pay a settlement of $500,000, of which Beaumont will pay $37,500. In addition, the Westboro facility and others are required to correct deficiencies and conduct compliance programs. The founders of New Jersey-based Synergy Health Centers was prohibited from doing business in the state for seven years.

"Our resolution cannot change what happened or ease the suffering of families. But we can assure they don't happen again," Ms. Healey said.

Two of the speakers at the announcement were sisters Candi Hitchcock of Gardner and Sammi Hawley. Their mother, Betty "Betsy" (Ford) Crane, 89, of Westminster, who had dementia, fell on July 29, 2015, and died Aug. 7, of blunt force head trauma.

An investigation determined that Mrs. Crane fell after a certified nursing assistant forgot to turn on the chair alarm. Two days after the fall, she was taken to the emergency department at Marlboro Hospital, where a radiology scan revealed that she had a brain bleed.

Mrs. Crane's family recently reached a $1 million-plus settlement with Beaumont after filing a case in Worcester Superior Court.

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