An 84-year-old resident of an Ohio nursing home was pronounced dead on Christmas Eve after being found on the patio outside the facility.
Alvera Meuti, a resident at the Avenue at Warrensville Care and Rehabilitation Center, went missing for more than 10 hours starting on the evening of December 23. She was found lying on her back on an outdoor patio in the morning hours of December 24 and pronounced dead at 8:57 a.m. after being taken to the South Pointe Hospital.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner reported that she died due to “environmental exposure with hypothermia.”
According to the police report, Meuti was last seen by a nurse at around 8:40 p.m. on Dec. 23 in her room, sitting in her wheelchair. Approximately an hour later, another nurse went to check on her, and discovered she was no longer in her room. The nurse reportedly assumed that Meuti left the facility with her brother, but the visitor log did not show any new visitors.
Approximately 3 hours later at around 12:30 a.m., the nurse stated that she started attempting to call Meuti’s brother several times but never received a response. The nurse asserted to the police that she was “a new nurse and not sure what to do after that.”
Approximately 6 hours after that, at about 6:30 a.m., the nurse told a co-worker about the missing resident, and a Code Purple was sent out. Staff uses this alert when a patient goes missing, and directy them to search all hospital rooms and the building’s exterior. The police were called to the facility at around 7:30 a.m., where they found Meuti unresponsive outside on the patio. She was then taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Meuti’s brother, who did come to see his sister at around 5:30 p.m. on December 23, responded to the repeated calls in the morning on December 24. During his visit, Meuti reportedly expressed a desire to leave the facility, but her brother told her that she couldn’t leave until she could walk. She reportedly could not walk without assistance.
She was transferred to the facility on December 18 from Cleveland Clinic — Marymount Hospital to receive physical therapy.
Officials from the nursing home reportedly informed the police that nurses are required to check in on residents every two hours, and they receive four weeks of training during orientation, which includes training on what to do when a patient goes missing.
Ohio law outlines the responsibilities of nursing homes and similar facilities, and failure to meet these standards can result in legal action. Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701-17 specifically covers nursing homes, including Rule 3701-17-06 which states that “individuals used by the home are competent to perform their job responsibilities and that services are provided in accordance with acceptable standards of practice.”
While the nursing home has security cameras in place, none of their placements caught sight of Meuti’s travel outside of the facility and does not have a view of the patio where she was found.