Son reaches settlement with Washington County over health center patient’s death
Documents filed recently in Washington County Court revealed the county’s insurance carrier reached a settlement related to the death of a patient at the former county-owned health center in Arden, Chartiers Township.
According to a suit filed in U.S. District Court, Betty Joan Plants, 81, of Washington, went to the emergency room of Washington Hospital while experiencing chest pain from a heart attack.
She needed physical therapy, so she was discharged to Washington County Health Center. An alarm was to sound if she left her bed, but it was no longer in operation when she fell Feb. 23, 2016, the suit said.
She was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, diagnosed with a bleeding, swollen brain, and released to Southmont Presbyterian SeniorCare, Washington, where she died March 12 of that year.
Her son, Gaylord Plants, administrator of her estate, filed suit in federal court, and mediation Sept. 27 resulted in a settlement of $65,000, according to companion litigation filed locally.
From this amount, $11,476 is earmarked for medical bills. Attorney Katelyn M. Dornburg and the Robert Peirce law firm, Pittsburgh, will receive $21,450, or 33 percent of the settlement, which was reduced from the agreed-upon fee of 40 percent, according to documents filed with Washington County Court.
Legal counsel also was reimbursed $5,077 for costs or disbursements. Nine-thousand dollars will be part of the survival action, and $21,000 is related to the wrongful-death case.
In a letter dated Nov. 30, Shannon Baker, trust specialist in the state Department of Revenue tax division, noted that proceeds of a survival action are an asset included in Betty Plants’ estate and are subject to inheritance tax.
“With these policies, the insurance company has a right to settle,” county Solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven said last week.
The county reported the potential liability to the proposed purchasers of the health center, Premier Healthcare LLC of Philadelphia, and the matter was settled before the sale closed earlier this year, DeHaven said.