Man accuses Jefferson City nursing home of medical neglect in wrongful death lawsuit
Olivia Hayes
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Jefferson City man filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday against a local senior care facility.
James Callison’s mother Mary Carter was admitted to Heisinger Bluffs Senior Living Community on Aug. 6, 2024, after being hospitalized from a fall while facing other medical diagnoses, like dementia, the petition says. She died May 2025.
Callison has accused Heisinger Bluffs Senior Rehab and Health Care Center, along with Green Tree Healthcare Management MO and HB Operations Holdco, of medical negligence, such as improper wound care, not ensuring employees were properly trained and not properly monitoring her food and water intake. It also makes allegations of violating the Missouri Omnibus Nursing Home Act.
Court filings say Carter was documented as “at-risk” and “high-risk” on the Braden Scale. The Braden Scale is the standard health are scale for predicting an individual’s risk for pressure injuries, like bed sores.
The lawsuit claims Heisinger Bluffs failed to develop or implement an effective pressure injury prevention care plan for Carter and did not monitor or document her skin integrity in a timely manner. The claims go onto say staff was not consistently turning or repositioning Carter in appropriately.
On Feb. 18, 2025, the petition says Callison first documented a Stage III pressure injury to Carter’s sacrum. Court documents note sometime around late April 2025, Carter’s pressure injury progressed from Stage III to Stage IV. Carter died not long after on May 10, 2025, at Heisinger Bluffs while under hospice care, with the Stage IV pressure injury still present.
The petition calls Carter’s pressure wound “avoidable” and said it caused her severe pain, anxiety, mental distress and put her at risk of an infection. Callisons claims the lack of proper care and neglect caused or contributed to her death.
Concerns were also raised around the training of Heisinger Bluffs’ staff. The lawsuit says the facility did not provide proper oversight and failed to properly discipline employees. Competency of the caregivers was also questioned in court documents.
Along with the allegations of poor medical treatment and unqualified staff, Callisons claims the facility also failed to provide proper nutritional and hydration support for Carter. Court documents state meals and fluids were not placed within reach and staff was not making sure Carter finished her food.
This is also listed as playing a role in Carter’s eventual death.
Callison is requesting a jury trial in the case. ABC 17 News reached out to Heisinger Bluffs for comment, a spokesperson for the facility said it would work to provide one after familiarizing themselves with the lawsuit.
Summons were issued for the defendants on Tuesday.
Heisinger Bluffs settled a different wrongful death lawsuit in May.
That lawsuit – which was filed in December 2023 by Bryan Tracy and the estate of Oma Tracy – accused the facility of wrongful death, lost chance of survival, negligence and violating the Missouri Omnibus Nursing Home Act. It was settled on May 13 and eventually dismissed on May 29.
Check back for updates.