Nursing home faces 2 more wrongful death suits linked to former nurse
The owners and operators of a Westmoreland County nursing home are facing two more wrongful death suits in connection with a former nurse who has been linked to the deaths of 17 nursing home patients at five facilities, including 10 at two Butler County facilities.
The two suits filed Tuesday, March 5, make a total of three the Robert Peirce and Associates law firm of Pittsburgh has filed against the owners and operators of Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Lower Burrell relating to treatment provided by former nurse Heather Pressdee, 41, of Natrona Heights.
Pressdee, who is being held in the Butler County Prison without bail on criminal homicide charges, is not named as a defendant in the civil suits.
The new suits were filed on behalf of family members of the late Jack A. Rogers, 79, of Westmoreland County, and Norman P. Hendrickson, 88, of Beaver County.
Rogers, a Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was admitted to Belair for long-term care. The suit claims that during the overnight shift on Nov. 14, 2021, and into Nov. 15, 2021, Pressdee injected Rogers with 100 units of insulin even through he was neither diabetic nor prescribed insulin.
Rogers died Nov. 16, 2021. Following his death, Pressdee purchased a memorial tile engraved with Rogers’ name and gifted it to his family, according to the suit.
Hendrickson, a former steelworker, was admitted to Belair on Feb. 20, 2022, following a brief hospitalization for COVID-19. The suit alleges that during the overnight shift on Feb. 23 into Feb. 24, Pressdee injected Hendrickson with 100 units of insulin even through he was neither diabetic nor prescribed insulin.
Hendrickson went into acute respiratory failure and had to be transported by ambulance to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, where he remained hospitalized in critical care for several weeks. Hendrickson never fully recovered, and required skilled nursing care for the rest of his life until he died Dec. 15, 2022, according to the suit.
Both of the suits say that in April 2021, Belair hired Pressdee as assistant director of nursing. Before Pressdee was hired by Belair, she had been terminated or forced to resign from six local health care facilities over a period of less than three years as a result of her abusive behavior toward residents and staff, according to the suits. Court documents indicate the Orchards of Saxonburg was among the six places where Pressdee worked before working at Belair.
Both suits alleged Belair failed to conduct an appropriate background check on Pressdee resulting in a dangerous environment for the residents of the facility.
After Pressdee was hired, Belair’s administration became aware of rumors that her direct-care residents were deteriorating unexpectedly, according to a statement from the law firm.
Belair disciplined nursing staff members who had become suspicious of Pressdee and voiced their concerns, according to the law firm. Both suits argue the actions of Belair caused or contributed to Hendrickson’s and Rogers’ deaths.
Peirce and Associates also filed a suit against Belair in September on behalf of Scott and Gregory Hess, of Sarver, related to the September 2021 death of their mother Marianne Bower, 68. The suit claims the state attorney general’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control determined Pressdee administered a lethal dose of insulin to Bower.
Pressdee has been charged in connection to deaths of six patients at Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Butler Township and four patients at Quality Life Services in Donegal Township, according to Attorney General Michelle Henry. Pressdee also is accused of administering lethal doses of insulin to four others at Quality Life Services, according to court documents.
She is facing charges related to alleged mistreatment of 22 total patients at nursing homes in Butler, Westmoreland, Allegheny and Armstrong counties. Charging documents indicate Pressdee admitted to harming, with intent to kill, the patients in a series of incidents between January 2020 and May 2023.
