Tragic Altercation

The family of Vera Plares, a 98-year-old Santa Clara woman, is claiming that the nursing home where she was living is liable after Plares’s roommate beat her to death with a cane. Plares was a resident at the for-profit Mission Skilled Nursing & Subacute Center in Santa Clara. Last December, Plares’ roommate, 78-year-old Connie Delucca, “bludgeoned” her while she lay in bed. Plares’ family is now suing the nursing home and claims that Mission Skilled employee’s knowing put Plares in danger by allowing her to room with Delucca, who had a previous history of violence against fellow nursing home patients.

According to the lawsuit, the family is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages for wrongful death, elder abuse, and violation of patient rights. Additionally, they allege that Mission Skilled fails to comply with California health and safety laws after delaying urgent medical care. Three hours after the incident, Mission Skilled employees found Plares with “severe bruising on her arm, hands, neck, and face.”

Plares tooth had been chipped, and blood was dripping from her mouth, where her blood was found on Delucca’s cane. In early July, police charged Delucca with felony elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. Delucca failed to appear for her arraignment, and police booked Delucca at the Santa Clara County jail and denied her bail. Proceedings were suspended until doctors could evaluate Deluccas’s mental competency to stand trial. If deemed incompetent, Delucca will be sent to a state psychiatric hospital.

Although Delucca had already had a previous encounter with attacking another patient, employees moved her into Plares’ room, something the complaint calls a “calculated decision.” Additionally, Delucca had a history of 5150 holds, which is an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hospitalization, “one imposed when someone is deemed dangerous or ‘gravely disabled; by mental illness or drug-or alcohol-induced psychosis.” When employees of Mission Skilled asked
Delucca what had happened, according to the complaint, she said something like, “What if I did do it, and I can’t remember?”

The two days in between when Plares was attacked and when she died from her injuries show the nursing homes’ negligence and how they prioritize self-protection over proper care. Ironically, this self-protection failed, exposing the institution to financial penalties, potential criminal charges, and reputation damage. According to the complaint, Plares was in the hospice wing of the facility to treat a bedsore. Doctors considered her capable of making her own medical decisions, as her family didn’t have a power of attorney. Almost an entire day had passed before Plares was taken to the hospital, only by her family urging the facility. When Plares was administered her medication at 6 pm, nurses deemed her “fine.”

Again, at 830pm and 9 pm, nurses checked on Plares as her curtain was closed. When another nurse checked on Plares at 930pm, her curtain was still closed,
but Plares was discovered to have been “brutally attacked and was seriously injured.” After three hours, the daughter-in-law, Evelyn Plares, was notified and asked permission to take her to the hospital. After two hours passed, Evelyn received a call from another entity stating that Plares was not going to be sent to the hospital “per hospice protocol.” The next morning, Evelyn visited the nursing home and met Melanie Plares, Vera’s niece. Melanie asked who decided not to bring Vera to the hospital and received no response from the staff. A hospice nurse overheard her and stated that it was a decision made per hospice protocol and by a hospice nurse and hospice medical doctor.

The complaint reads, “Melanie then informed the nurse Vera Plares was not on end-of-life care and was awake and talking the day before the attack … [Melanie] insisted they take her off hospice and send her to Valley Medical Center where she could receive appropriate care. She then asked Chris, a social worker, ‘What did the police say, and can I have the case number?’ Chris responded, ‘I don’t know if I can give it to you.” And according to the article, there was no police report. The family then made a police report and called an ambulance, where Plares was transported to the hospital— 20 hours after the incident.

The lawsuit names two business entities: Covenant Care California, which is doing business as Mission Skilled Nursing & Sub-Acute Center, and Covenant Care Mission, Inc., Suncrest Hospice San José, which is doing business as Suncrest Hospice. Both of these businesses share an address and agent for the process of service. They also use the same account, and transactions between the two are a part of a single leader. Mission and Suncrest both have contracts with each other. Separating the multiple layers of interlocked businesses in the for-profit medical service industry is difficult, but one thing is sure: “everyone is making
money”.