Toms River Man Died After PA Facility Sent Him Home In Uber: Suit

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River man's widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Pennsylvania health care facility and its administrator after her husband suffered a heart attack and stroke during a three-hour Uber ride home in 2018.

In the federal lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Scranton, Pa., Jeanne M. Hamill alleges her husband, Eugene, was discharged by Twin Cedars Senior Living in Shohola, Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2018, because the company "could no longer profit off Eugene residing at their facility."

"This case epitomizes wanton disregard for the health and safety of others by a personal care home, Twin Cedars, and its administrator," according to the lawsuit, which was filed by attorney Steven McConnell. It seeks unspecified damages.

The suit alleges Eugene Hamill was sent home in the Uber despite the facility's administrator, Tamara Singer, being told by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that it was unsafe to discharge Hamill that way because he suffered from multiple serious medical diagnoses.

During the three-hour ride from the facility in the Poconos, Hamill suffered a stroke and a heart attack, and by the time he arrived in Toms River was unresponsive. He was taken to Community Medical Center, where he was intubated and placed on a ventilator in intensive care. He was then transferred to Whiting Health Care Center. He never recovered, and died Sept. 26, 2019, according to the suit.

A call to Twin Cedars Senior Living on Thursday seeking a response to the lawsuit was answered by a woman who said, "We have no comment, I'm sorry," and hung up. Contact information for Singer could not be located. Her LinkedIn profile lists her as the CEO and owner of Twin Cedars, however the facility was sold to Little Walker LLC in December, according to the lawsuit.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services revoked Twin Cedars' license in December 2018 and issued a provisional license as a result of the incident, saying Hamill was "a victim of neglect due to the unsafe discharge," according to the violations report.

In her response to the report, Singer claimed the situation "is very complex with many different parties involved and their abandonment of this resident," with "their" underlined.

Eugene Hamill died just days before his 83rd birthday and less than three weeks before he and Jeanne would have celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary.

According to the lawsuit, Eugene Hamill had begun staying at Twin Cedars on July 6, 2018, and had a host of medical problems, including hypertension, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and bone cancer, and wore a cardiac life vest because of his cardiac issues.

On the day Hamill was sent in the Uber, Singer had contacted a state Department of Human Services licensing superviser about the potential discharge and was told the three-hour Uber ride was an unsafe discharge and that the facility could face charges of abandonment of an older adult by a caregiver if it followed through, the lawsuit says.

Documents in the Pennsylvania human services files online show Twin Cedars had been previously cited for issues including not having enough staff on site and other issues. The lawsuit said the facility had violations after the incident that led to Eugene Hamill's death.

Ali Fogarty, communications director with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, said Twin Cedars has since been sold and is under new ownership.

"It currently operates on a full license," she said.

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