COPPERAS COVE, Texas — A second family has come forward accusing a Copperas Cove nursing home of neglect.
Amber Sepulvado said her 78-year-old father, Jerry Koss, died this year. The family came to Texas from Louisiana after he suffered a fall and two brain bleeds.
Koss was first in a Harker Heights nursing home, Sepulvado said, but after she took video of him struggling to drink, she decided to bring him home. However, she realized she needed more help.
6 News reached out to the facility for comment. They sent over the following statement:
Harker Heights Nursing & Rehabilitation strives to provide quality care to all of our patients and residents every day. The facility came under new management May 1, 2024, so it would be inappropriate for us to discuss the care provided to any resident prior that time. We also do not discuss the care of any specific resident that we care for at any time.
Sepulvado later decided on Copperas Cove Nursing and Rehab for her father because it has a memory care unit, and Koss had dementia. Her original plan was to do 30 days of rehab and then see if he could build up the strength to come home.
Sepulvado said a week after Koss went into the home, he went to the hospital for dehydration. Later, she said she got a call that he had fallen out of his wheelchair in the dining room.
"He was sundowning," Sepulvado said. "That's the worst possible time to leave a patient alone. They knew that he had to have eyes on him."
Afterwards, Koss was taken to the hospital again where they found he had another brain bleed.
"There was just nothing that they could do for him," Sepulvado said. "He unfortunately passed away."
Sepulvado said she also believes the nursing home was giving her father medication that was affecting him poorly. She told 6 News she just wants someone to be held accountable.
"I could not not see my dad every single day," Sepulvado said. "I had to put eyes on him to see. Is he ok today? Is his shirt clean? Has he had something to drink? Our elderly deserve better. They deserve so much more than what they get right now. It's unacceptable. Their living conditions are horrible. The places stink whenever you walk in and that is avoidable. That does not have to be like that."
Texas Health and Human Services is investigating the facility but hasn't been able to give details of what they have found. ProPublica found the nursing home has been penalized multiple times by the State, with over $100,000 in fines between 2021 and 2022.
6 News previously covered the nursing home in a previous story. More on that can be found at this link.
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