WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – An Iowa nursing home company has faced at least 17 wrongful-death and negligence lawsuits over the past 16 months, a review of court records shows. The lawsuits have been filed against Care Initiatives, a nonprofit corporation based in West Des Moines that operates 43 Iowa nursing homes as well as several assisted living centers and hospice locations. While some of the lawsuits have been settled out of court and dismissed during the past 16 months, others are still being litigated or have been stayed as the disputes are handled through private arbitration. In each of the lawsuits, Care Initiatives has denied any wrongdoing.

The company, which says it does not comment on pending litigation, cares for roughly 2,800 elderly or disabled Iowans who receive care in one of its state-licensed nursing facilities or assisted living centers. The latest lawsuit, brought by the estate of Maris Bergis, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from Care Initiatives and one of its nursing homes, Parkridge Specialty Care of Pleasant Hill, for alleged dependent adult abuse, recklessness, negligence and wrongful death.

The lawsuit alleges Parkridge “negligently cared for Bergis and violated numerous regulations, laws, rights, and industry standards, causing (him) personal injury, illness, harm, and a decline in health.” According to the lawsuit, Bergis was admitted to Parkridge on Sept. 1, 2023, for a 48-hour stay following his hospitalization for pneumonia. Upon admission, he was allegedly alert, awake and oriented, and Parkridge was tasked with providing physician-prescribed breathing treatments and monitoring him for difficulty with breathing and any signs of anxiety, confusion or restlessness.

During the course of Bergis’ stay at Parkridge, the staff at the home allegedly failed to administer the breathing treatments. The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing subsequently cited Parkridge for its care of Bergis finding that it had delayed providing necessary medical care and treatment. While the lawsuit does not indicate when, where or how Bergis died, it claims the “gross negligence, and/or recklessness” of Care Initiatives and Parkridge “were the cause of Bergis’ decline in health, injuries, damages and untimely death.”

State inspection reports indicate Bergis was alive, but was increasingly nonresponsive, late in the afternoon on Sept. 4, 2023, which was three days after his admission to Parkridge. The inspection records indicate Bergis was sent to a hospital by ambulance at his spouse’s insistence, but they provide no information as to the hospital’s diagnosis or treatment outcome.

Read about other wrongful death or negligence lawsuits litigated against Care Initiatives over the past 16 months, HERE.