Woman allowed to freeze to death outside nursing home
MSNBC had an article about a resident who was unsupervised and was able to leave the facility unattended. Authorities are investigating the death of the female resident. Reports indicate that Dorotha Gifford apparently walked out of the Heartland of Woodridge home without any of the staff noticing. Several hours passed before Gifford was discovered missing. Employees searched the grounds and found her dead outside at about 2:30 p.m. Gifford was pronounced dead shortly after she was found.
Temperatures hovered only a few degrees from zero for the day she was missing. The cause of death is mostly like exposure to the cold.
The home is owned by HCR ManorCare. They released a statement to the media refusing to accept responsibility.
The article does not mention if she was a known wanderer or if there were locks or alarms on the door. It also doesn't mention how long she was missing or if the facility was properly staffed that day. I hope there is an investigation and we find out some of the answers to these questions.
