A jury has found Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings was negligent in the 2018 death of resident Owen Daniel Shively.
Shively arrived at the care center on Dec. 13 and was assaulted by another patient Dec. 17 and died five days later.
The patient pushed the 72-year-old Shively to the floor causing a fatal skull fracture, the victim’s family stated in a lawsuit.
A Billings District Court jury on Jan. 28 awarded Tana Shively, the victim’s spouse, $310,000. The jury found that Canyon Creek was negligent in not managing the violent patient who pushed Shively, and that the negligence led to his death.
An American Medical Response ambulance leaves Canyon Creek Memory Care Community in Billings on July 9, 2020.
The jury found that prior to admission, Canyon Creek failed to assess the patient who pushed Shively. State law requires that patients prone to violence not be admitted, the suit said. The suit was filed by Torger Oaas, an attorney in Lewistown.Â
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The care home was also careless in not assigning Shively to the separate dining room for residents who could not feed themselves.
In a separate case, Oaas filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Canyon Creek in January, 2021. In that case, the family of Edeltraud Kron claims the woman was so neglected at the care center she weighed just over 100 pounds at her death.Â
Caretakers failed to help her brush her teeth so long that six of her teeth had to be pulled. That necessitated that she be provided only with soft food. Canyon Creek failed to comply with that, the suit claims. The center also failed to treat her for an unrelated illness that left her in serious pain, dehydrated and with seizures.Â
During the COVID pandemic beginning in 2020, the care facility at 1785 Majestic Lane in Billings experienced 17 patient deaths related to the virus. At one point, so many residents and members of Canyon Creek staff were sick from the virus, the National Guard and volunteers from Billings Clinic were deployed to staff the center.
Last month, the family of one of those COVID victims sued Canyon Creek’s owners alleging the company intentionally understaffed the center in order to save money. That limited staff was overwhelmed by the pandemic causing patients to be neglected, the suit filed by the Heenan & Cook law firm in Billings claims.
The family of the 74-year-old patient who died in September, 2020, said they were barred by COVID protocols from visiting their father. When they finally did get to visit, he had lost a significant amount of weight and was no longer able to talk, swallow, or stand, the suit claims. One family member said she once found him soaked in his own urine.
