(Des Moines, Iowa) – One of Iowa’s largest nursing home operators, Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, is currently facing at least 10 wrongful death lawsuits. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the lawsuits, all filed in state court over the past 18 months, include four against Northcrest Specialty Care in Waterloo, which has been the focus of at least 21 complaint investigations by the state in the past year. Care Initiative’s facilities in Avoca and Corning are included in the lawsuits. Read more about those cases below.

In each of the lawsuits, Care Initiatives has denied any wrongdoing. The company, which operates 43 Iowa nursing homes as well as several assisted living centers and hospice locations, says it does not comment on pending litigation. Roughly 2,800 elderly or disabled Iowans receive care from one of the company’s facilities.

In several of the lawsuits, Care Initiatives has attempted to have the cases thrown out of court due to contracts residents signed at admission. Those contracts call for any disputes between the residents and the company to be settled through private arbitration rather than civil litigation.

At least four wrongful deaths claims have been filed against Waterloo’s Northcrest Specialty Care nursing home, although some of those claims are being challenged due to arbitration agreements signed by elderly residents. (Photo via Google Earth; document courtesy of Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County)

Such agreements have generated controversy nationally, with advocates for seniors arguing that residents and their family members often don’t understand the contracts may result in them losing their right to sue.

Corning Specialty Care: The family of Angela Segebart alleges that she was admitted to the Corning home in September 2017 and that on Jan. 20, 2022, she tested positive for COVID-19. On Jan. 27, 2022, the staff allegedly dropped Segebart while transferring her in or out of bed, resulting in two broken legs. The lawsuit claims the staff then failed to assess Segebart’s injuries and placed her back in bed. Two days later, she was experiencing respiratory problems and was transferred to a hospital where she subsequently died.

The official cause of Segebart’s death was chronic respiratory failure and pneumonia due to COVID-19, with sepsis and acute renal failure listed as contributing factors. Care Initiatives successfully fought to have the bulk of the case settled through arbitration, although the family’s claim of loss of consortium could result in further litigation depending on the outcome of arbitration.

Avoca Specialty Care: The family of Craig Christensen alleges that while living at the Avoca facility in January 2022, Christensen developed a urinary tract infection that was left untreated and led to the development of sepsis and septic shock and, ultimately, his death on Feb. 20, 2022. A jury trial is scheduled for July 29, 2025.

(Radio Iowa) – Representatives from the Iowa Hunger Coalition have met with state officials, hoping to convince Governor Kim Reynolds Iowa should participate in a federal program NEXT summer that provides extra food for kids in low income households. The program provides an extra 120 dollars in summertime federal food assistance for each child who qualified for free or reduced price lunch at school. Reynolds cited administrative costs when she turned down the federal funds for the so-called “Summer E-B-T” program THIS summer.

Luke Elzinga, a spokesman for the coalition, says the U-S-D-A has announced it will provide grants to states, to cover technology expenses associated with the benefits.

Elzinga says food pantries in the state are overwhelmed.

Elzinga works for the Des Moines Area Religious Council food pantries, which saw record use in July.

The Iowa Hunger Coalition delivered a petition to the governor’s office this week that was signed by over 35-hundred Iowans, urging Reynolds to accept extra federal food benefits next summer for low income students who qualify for free or reduced prices school lunches.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa communities hit by this spring’s flooding are evaluating whether — and how — FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program could work in their area. The grants may be used to buy homes that are damaged or destroyed by flooding — at pre-flood market prices — and the land is cleared. Kevin Robinson is the deputy city manager in Spencer.

FEMA typically pays 75 percent of the cost of these projects, with state and local governments being responsible for the rest.

The program was used previously in Cherokee, where nearly 190 homes were either demolished or moved — clearing about 67 acres along the Little Sioux River.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports Myron Allen Dumarce, who was convicted of Theft 2nd Degree, Eluding, and Assault with Weapon in Woodbury County, failed to report back to the Sioux City Residential Treatment Facility as required, Thursday.

Dumarce is a 20-year-old, 5’11”, 167-pound American Indian male. He was admitted to the work release facility on Aug. 8, 2024.

Myron Allen Dumarce

Persons with information on Dumarce’s whereabouts should contact local police.

(Radio Iowa) – This Sunday is August 11th or 8-11, the day Iowans are reminded about the three-digit phone number they’re required to call before doing any digging on their property. Ben Booth is spokesman for Iowa One Call which is marking what it calls 8-1-1 Day in advance of the fall planting season.  “Iowa law says you have to notify Iowa One Call prior to doing any type of digging, not just contractors and professionals, anyone in Iowa planning to do any type of digging or disturbance of the earth,” Booth says. “The reason is because there’s a lot of stuff underneath the ground that you can’t see.” The state law was enacted in 1993, mandating that Iowans use the service before taking a shovel to dirt, and especially before using anything larger to dig.

Call at least 48 hours in advance, and crews will mark the underground utilities with flags or spray-paint so you can know where -not- to dig. “I’m talking about your fiber optic, your broadband, your satellite cables, and then real serious stuff like high voltage electricity and pressurized natural gas,” Booth says, “of course, your water and sewer, all these fundamental services that we need that we just don’t think about because they are literally out of sight and out of mind.” Booth notes, digging can mean much more than just taking a shovel to dirt. “If you’re pounding a stake or a fence post or something like that in the ground, you could pierce one of those underground facilities, and that could have devastating consequences,” Booth says. “It could be hazardous, and of course, there’s the liability on the other side of that, because if you break something, typically, you’re going to get a bill to repair it.”

time an Iowan phones the call center, it typically triggers several more calls, depending on how many utilities may be buried on the property. Booth says they field about 600,000 calls a year, which equates to more than 3.6 million notices back to the utilities.

IowaOneCall.com