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Pneumonia, dehydration caused NC resident tragedy

LTC Liability Monitor, May 24, 2006

A woman who disappeared on January 23 from her North Carolina nursing home was found dead four days later. According to an autopsy, she was suffering from acute pneumonia and dehydration, the Charlotte Observer reported. Mary Cole, who had Alzheimer's disease, allegedly hid behind furniture and boxes in a storage closet down the hall from her room, and staff at Liberty Nursing and Rehabilitation didn't find her despite six searches of the facility.

Starting February 7, CMS charged Liberty $10,000 a day after state investigators found that staff did not properly supervise Cole and failed to protect her from dangerous areas of the nursing home. The agency lifted its fines on February 22 following improvements, but earlier this month imposed penalties of $200 a day on the Charlotte home for unrelated violations, the Observer reported.

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