A critical illness recovery hospital that serves The Villages is being accused of misdiagnosing a severe bedsore that resulted in “two months of unfathomable pain and suffering” for an 88-year-old woman just weeks before she died.
The complaint was filed on Tuesday, August 29, in the circuit court of the 18th Judicial Circuit in Seminole County by Tonett Harmon, a personal representative of the estate of Daphne White. It accuses Central Florida Regional Hospital, Inc. (d/b/a HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital) and Select Specialty Hospital – The Villages, Inc., of negligence that led to White’s development of a deep tissue injury.
According to the complaint, on November 24, 2021, White was admitted to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital, which is located at 1401 W Seminole Boulevard in Sanford.
The complaint notes that, at the time of her admittance, White had “no sacral skin breakdown,” but that she was “clearly at high risk for sacral skin breakdown” based on the
“existence of pre-existing heel wounds.”
Over the course of the following week, the complaint says that staff at the hospital “failed to provide adequate and appropriate pressure relief.”
As a result, on November 30, 2021, a sacral bedsore was found and documented to have developed “in-house,” according to the complaint.
On December 15, 2021, two weeks after White’s bedsore was first discovered, the injury was documented to be “Stage 3.”
On December 18, 2021, White was transferred to Select Specialty Hospital, which is located at 5050 County Road 472 in Oxford, and her injury was reported by staff to be “Stage 2.”
The complaint notes that it is “unclear” whether or not the recovery hospital’s description was “accurate or an error,” as there was “likely underlying damage.”
Additional notes were made in the days that followed that appeared to suggest the injury was “healed.” The complaint says those notes appeared to “be in error.”
Wound management orders from December 27, 2021, show that staff had made notes to not put “foam dressing” on the bedsore, but rather, to use “cream only.”
On January 4, 2022, the coccyx/sacral bedsore was reported to be “unstageable,” meaning its severity could not be determined through just a visual exam.
At the time, the injury required multiple debridements and was ultimately reclassified as “Stage 4,” as noted by the complaint.
White passed away on February 11, 2022 at the age of 88. According to the complaint, her death came after “two months of unfathomable pain and suffering.”
The complaint seeks damages in excess of $50,000 from each hospital, and a jury trial.
A mother of four, White was born in Monticello, Florida and moved to Sanford, Florida early in life, according to her obituary. She attended schools in Seminole County and was married to Roosevelt White, Sr., who preceded her in death. She served as an usher at Macedonia Primitive Baptist Church.
