Horizon sued over refusal to re-admit

The Ohio Department of Health ruled against Horizon Village.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Ohio Department of Aging's Long-Term Care Ombudsperson Program has filed suit, for the second time in eight months, against Horizon Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Howland.
Both of the cases are about refusing to re-admit residents who left the facility for medical care.
The program sued Horizon Village in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Thursday, saying the facility improperly discharged John Gregory III without giving him the mandatory notice required by state law.
The suit says Gregory was taken from Horizon Village to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital March 11 for a psychiatric evaluation after an outburst at the facility. He was about to return to Horizon Village when he was arrested on an outstanding warrant and taken to the Trumbull County Jail.
After posting Gregory's bond, his guardian contacted Horizon Village and was told Gregory was not permitted to return.
Hearing
In a hearing conducted before the Ohio Department of Health April 5, the hearing officer ruled that Gregory was improperly discharged as Horizon failed to properly notify him. The hearing officer ordered the facility to re-admit Gregory, but Horizon Village did not, the suit says.
Atty. Brenda Coey of Canton, who represents Horizon Village, said during the Department of Health hearing that the facility was prepared to take Gregory back until the criminal action arose. At that point, the facility denied Gregory's return because his stop at the jail constituted his voluntary discharge. The jail was Gregory's new home, Coey said.
Gregory remained in the county jail for a time and then moved in with his mother, said John Saulitis, local director of the Long Term Ombudsman Program for the District XI Agency on Aging in Youngstown.
Coey could not be reached for comment for this story.
First case
Saulitis, whose office represents nursing home patients in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties, said THI of Ohio at Horizon Village, which runs the nursing home, has tried to deny re-admittance to other residents in such cases.
The suit is similar to one the Ombudsperson Program filed in November against Horizon Village over former resident Anthony Dorsey, who owed the nursing home about $75,000 and was not allowed to return to the nursing home after an emergency trip to the hospital.
Dorsey has since died, but the lawsuit in his matter has never been resolved, Saulitis said.
The two cases are similar in that they appear to be cases in which the nursing home wants to refuse re-admittance to someone because of behavioral or family billing issues, Saulitis said.
runyan@vindy.com