Lawsuit alleges cover up in resident injury case

A memory care facility failed to protect a 78-year-old resident from falling, then tried to cover up his resulting broken hip, according to the resident's lawyers.  

A lawsuit was filed in the Orange County Superior Court against Villa Rosa Memory Care Properties, LLC and its parent company Frontier Management, LLC for elder abuse, negligence, negligent hiring and supervision and fraud.

Todd Millar, then a resident at the center, requires round-the-clock supervision for his dementia and Parkinson’s disease. He is prone to falling.

Attorney Bill Artigliere, of the law firm Garcia, Artigliere & Medby, alleges in an effort to cut costs, Villa Rosa didn’t employ enough properly trained staff members. That resulted in a lack of supervision that caused Millar to fall and break his hip some time in August. Soon after, a visiting family member asked why Millar was in a wheelchair.

"The nurse at night said that he was really tired and sore from walking the halls all night long the night before, and that’s why he was sitting in his wheelchair," Artigliere told the Daily Pilot.

Family members noticed something was wrong with Millar's legs and insisted he be taken to a hospital. Artigliere said one of Millar’s legs was "jammed so far up into his pelvis" it was visibly shorter than the other. Millar underwent partial hip replacement surgery and is recovering at a rehabilitation facility.

Artigliere claims Millar should not have been admitted to Villa Rosa in the first place. He also says the facility broke state law by accepting him although management knew it couldn’t provide Millar the 24-hour skilled nursing care he needed.


Topics: Alzheimer's/Dementia , Facility management , Staffing