$8.4M to settle five-year lawsuit

2 nursing homes’ staffing contested

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox on Tuesday gave final approval to an $8.4 million settlement that ends a 5-year-old class-action lawsuit against Grace Healthcare nursing homes in Maumelle and Benton on behalf of former residents who claimed the facilities were chronically understaffed.

The facilities deny any wrongdoing. Claimants are former residents who lived at the nursing homes between February 2007 and June 10, 2010, or their next of kin. They are entitled to $44 per day of stay for damages from "loss of dignity," court filings show.

The Maumelle facility at 103 Alexandria Drive had 70 beds while the Benton home at 3300 Alcoa Road reported 120 beds.

Claims must be postmarked by Sept. 26 to be accepted. The lawyers have identified 812 former residents and have been able to notify 758 of them through a direct mailing and a website, www.gracehealthcaresettlement.com.

Mark Nichols, the claims administrator, told the judge he has approved 127 claims, worth $1,678,498, representing an average payment of $13,217, a 300-night stay.

Nichols said he has another 31 claims, worth $256,070, close to being completed.

The money won't go out until the claims deadline expires.

Under the arrangements approved by the judge, plaintiffs attorneys Gene Ludwig, Greg Campbell and Brian Reddick will receive $2,364,320 in fees and $66,310 in expenses while each of the three lead plaintiffs -- Patsy Padgett of DeWitt, Marilyn Gillespie of Bryant and Deanne Hooker of Maumelle -- receive a $4,000 fee in addition to their share of the settlement proceeds.

The litigation began in April 2012 when Gillespie, daughter of the late Rachel Beavers, and Padgett, representing the estate of her mother, Cleo Brod, sued the Benton defendants, alleging the facility was operating with staffing deficiencies in violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Protection of Long Term Care Facilities Residents Act.

Hooker, on behalf of her late father Eddie Scroggin, joined the lawsuit later, adding the Maumelle location.

The defendants are Benton Investments & Associates LLC doing business as Grace Healthcare of Benton, Benton Property Investments LLC, Grace Healthcare LLC, Maumelle Investments & Associates LLC doing business as Grace Healthcare of Maumelle, and Maumelle Property Investments LLC.

The individual defendants include Byron DeFoor of Ooltewah, Tenn., and John P. O'Brien of McDonald, Tenn., both of whom were members of the companies and part of the governing body of the health care companies

The other defendants are former administrators of the facilities: Connie Lester, Denise Banks and Jason Palculiet at the Maumelle home, and Troy Morris, Ricky Griffin, Amanda Levato, Judy Weiss and James Hartley of the Benton home.

The defendants were represented Tuesday by attorneys Ed Oglesby and Jamie Jones.

NW News on 09/07/2017

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