Kanawha County Jury Renders Judgment against Montgomery Nursing Home

CHARLESTON, W.Va., June 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A Kanawha County Circuit Court jury found today that Montgomery General Elder Care Center, Inc., was negligent in deviating from the applicable standard of care leading to the injury of an elderly resident of its nursing home. As a result, the jury found the nursing home is liable for $300,000 in damages.   

The case, Stafford v. Montgomery General Elderly Care Center, Inc. (Civil Action No. 17-C-188), before Judge Tera Salango, involved 91-year-old World War II veteran and longtime school teacher Hobart Stafford, who was admitted to the nursing home on May 16, 2016. Three days later on May 19, he fell and fractured his right hip, which required surgery and two weeks of recovery at Charleston Area Medical Center.

His attorneys from Stewart Bell, PLLC, argued that the nursing home was negligent for not having enough staff, for putting Stafford at the end of a hallway where staff could not respond to him quickly enough and for not having a working alarm on his bed.

"The message given to the jury was that it is not acceptable practice in a nursing home to have one licensed practical nurse and two certified nursing assistants care for 25 to 30 residents," Andrew Paternostro, lead attorney from Stewart Bell for Stafford, said. "The jury rejected that as a reasonable practice. Jurors understood that older people should receive better care in such facilities."

After a four-day trial and three hours of deliberation, the jury agreed with Stafford's case and awarded him $84,237.06 for past medical bills, $115,762.94 for pain and suffering, and $100,000.00 for loss of dignity and diminished quality of life.

Attorney Andrew Stonestreet of Stewart Bell assisted Paternostro with the case.

Stafford taught at Logan High School and Elementary Schools. Before entering the nursing home, he was a resident of East Bank.

Jeff Stewart, managing attorney at Stewart Bell, said, "It's our mission to represent elderly West Virginians and prevent such things from happening again to the extent we can."

SOURCE Stewart Bell, PLLC