[StBernard] Nursing home operators fight back

[Westley Annis]

Oh I'd luv to be on that grand jury.  My grandfather was there for awhile
and we weren't really too happy with them.

Jim
 

	-----------------------------------------------------
	Nursing home operators fight back
	They petition to add public officials to suit 
	Wednesday, September 06, 2006
	By Laura Maggi
	Staff writer 
	
	In an effort to shift blame for the deaths of 35 residents of St.
Rita's
	Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina, its
owners have
	filed a legal demand seeking to have a judge name a slew of public
officials
	and agencies, including Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Army Corps of
	Engineers, as co-defendants in a civil lawsuit pending against the
facility.
	
	
	Known as a third-party demand, the request, if allowed by a judge,
could
	result in a decision that other defendants are liable for the
deaths, either
	in whole or in part, and thus for damages awarded in the case, said
James
	Cobb, attorney for St. Rita's owners, Salvador Mangano and Mabel
Mangano. 
	
	In addition to the more than 50 civil lawsuits pending against them,
the
	Manganos could face criminal prosecution by state Attorney General
Charles
	Foti. At a Tuesday news conference, Cobb said the Manganos, who ran
the
	nursing home for 20 years, had a reasonable expectation that they
could
	safely take care of their charges at the facility without risking an
arduous
	evacuation that itself could injure or kill their frail, elderly
patients. 
	
	"We were there for 20 years, and we never lost a resident" in a
storm, Cobb
	said. "We never evacuated once." 
	
	The Manganos filed the demand last week in the 34th Judicial
District Court
	in Chalmette. Some of the 51 suits counted by the St. Bernard
clerk's office
	are personal injury claims brought by residents themselves, while
others are
	wrongful death lawsuits by family members of those who perished as
	floodwaters inundated St. Rita's. 
	
	
	Recovery slows probe 
	
	Cobb's offensive came as a spokeswoman for the state Attorney
General
	Charles Foti's office said he was nearly prepared to bring a case
against
	the Manganos to a grand jury, almost a year after they were booked
on 34
	counts of negligent homicide. The Manganos were arrested in the
deaths of 34
	people, but Cobb said the body of another presumed former resident
has since
	been found, bringing the death toll at the facility to 35. 
	
	In public statements after the Manganos' arrest in September, Foti
	forcefully made a case against the nursing home owners, who are in
their
	60s. He said they not only didn't follow their own hurricane
evacuation
	plan, which they were required to file with the local Office of
Emergency
	Preparedness, but also resisted an offer of busing the day before
the storm.
	
	
	Kris Wartelle, a Foti spokeswoman, said the state Department of
Justice has
	been hampered by St. Bernard's slow recovery. The local district
attorney
	has recused himself from the case, Wartelle said, leaving the matter
in the
	hands of the agency's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which
investigates the
	abuse or neglect of elderly people in facilities that accept federal
money. 
	
	"They had to wait until St. Bernard came back. We had to have enough
people
	to have a grand jury," she said. 
	
	Indictments by a grand jury would be the first step in the
prosecution of
	the Manganos, who have not been charged with a crime. 
	
	
	Blaming government 
	
	Cobb's complaint, which aims to make the government agencies named
party to
	one or all of the civil lawsuits against the Manganos, targets
government at
	every level, including Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez for
not
	issuing a written mandatory evacuation order of St. Bernard Parish
and
	Blanco, the head of emergency response in the state of Louisiana. 
	
	Rodriguez's assistant did not return a message requesting comment,
but
	documents supplied by Cobb show that there was no written mandatory
	evacuation. A letter from Larry Ingargiola, director of the Office
of
	Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in St. Bernard Parish,
	indicated that officials did not have time in the midst of storm
	preparations to write an order, but that all notices were clearly
and
	repeatedly "transmitted through the local public television
channels." 
	
	A Blanco spokeswoman would not respond to the specific allegations
in the
	complaint, but said nursing homes are responsible for carrying out
their own
	evacuation plans. 
	
	Cobb faults the state Department of Health and Hospitals, the
Department of
	Transportation and Development and Foti's agency for failing to help
with
	evacuations. 
	
	The state health agency is not responsible for actually helping
evacuate
	nursing homes or other medical facilities, said Bob Johannessen, a
spokesman
	for the department. Wartelle and a representative of the
transportation
	agency declined to comment on specific allegations in the complaint.

	
	Before Katrina, the health agency wasn't even charged with reviewing
the
	homes' evacuations plans, a duty it now has because of recent state
	legislation. Johannessen said the department is reviewing the
emergency
	plans for nursing homes in coastal parishes. 
	
	Under the new regulations, all nursing homes will be required to
move their
	patients in a mandatory evacuation. 
	
	
	Levees criticized 
	
	About three pages of the 10-page complaint are dedicated to charges
against
	the federal government for the failure of the corps to build levees
that
	could withstand the storm, while another page details the faults of
the Lake
	Borgne Basin Levee District for not adequately maintaining the
flood-control
	structures. 
	
	In the document, Cobb said, "St. Rita Nursing Home sits on what is
	relatively high ground for St. Bernard Parish. Despite its
elevation, on the
	morning of August 29, 2005, the facility became inundated in a
matter of
	minutes to a depth of some six feet." 
	
	
	While it was not addressed in the complaint, Cobb used his press
conference
	to try to blunt one of Foti's most damaging claims against his
clients: that
	the Manganos refused evacuation assistance from Bryan Bertucci, the
coroner
	of St. Bernard Parish, who has said he offered the home two buses to
use for
	evacuations. 
	
	The deposition doesn't refute that claim, but Cobb pointed to
separate
	statements in which Bertucci said he did not order the home to
evacuate. 
	
	In another portion of the deposition, Bertucci says during
questioning by
	defense attorneys that evacuations can endanger nursing home
patients. 
	
	. . . . . . . 
	
	Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi at timespicayune.com or (225)
342-5590.