Bergen County Nursing Home Patient Sat In Her Own Feces, Lawsuit Alleges: Report

NEW MILFORD, N.J. — A Bergen County nursing home is being sued by the family of a patient they claim was neglected and covered in her own feces.

The abuse allegations are outlined in a lawsuit against Woodcrest Health Center in New Milford and its parent company, Care One. The company has several facilities in Bergen and Passaic counties, including Paramus, Oradell, Teaneck, and Wayne, NBC4 reported. The family claims Care One ignored the woman's pleas to go to the bathroom.

The patient's son, Steven Paganessi said that every time the family visited her, "there was another issue."

"She was covered head to toe in feces," Paganessi said in the report. "She wasn't being fed. She had fallen."

Tim Hodges, a spokesman and chief strategy officer for Care One, could not immediately be reached for comment, but said in a statement to NBC that Woodcrest has served more than 2,000 residents over the last five years and has a four-star rating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare.

"CMS's rating reflects the true quality of the care Woodcrest provides, as opposed to this sensational and improperly filed lawsuit," Hodges said.

The family claims that Care One is understaffed and that is why they could not respond to her mother's requests, according to the report.

A commercial spot posted on Care One's website states that the company has been providing "high-quality, after-hospital" care for more than 40 years and has been chosen by more patients than any other provider in New Jersey."

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Image courtesy of NBC4