Metron Nursing Homes Settle State Lawsuit

GRAND RAPIDS - The death of Sarah Comer in January 2005 prompted a state investigation into the care at Metron nursing homes.

According to Attorney General Mike Cox, Sarah Comer died 18 hours after being admitted to the Big Rapids Metron nursing home because her oxygen tank ran out and staff members weren't experienced with oxygen dependent patients.

Jim Osborn with Metron Health says that isn't true, ?Everybody who administers care whether they are certified or licensed has the proper scope of licensure or certification to deliver the care that we are asking them to do." Cox also says nurses and administrators tried to cover up her death, Osborn says Metron only admits to a medical mistake, "We acknowledge that oxygen ran out on the tank and it was an isolated incident."

As a result, the Attorney Generals office found Metron in violation of accepting Medicare funds while not meeting standard care which is the basis of the state's settlement with Metron.

Now Metron must pay $78,000 for the Attorney General's office investigation. They will now have to hire an independent monitor to supervise Metron's nine nursing home facilities for the next 2 years. The Monitor will cost about $7,000 a month.

The nursing home provider also faces fines and possible criminal charges if they fail to comply. They will also need state approval for any sale or purchase of a Metron owned facility. State Attorney General Mike Cox says this is a harsh settlement for Metron, ?We chose this route in order to see if we can't help Metron rehabilitate itself and at the same time provide better care for the patients who are there right now." But Metron says they plan to embrace the agreement because it will only make them a better provider, "We believe we were doing a really good job before this agreement, we believe it's going to help us do better. We're not happy that we were compelled to do it if that's your question but we are doing it and we're embracing it.? There are still individual criminal charges pending for eight employees of the Big Rapids Metron nursing home who were on duty at the time of Sarah Comer's death. The charges range from tampering with evidence to involuntary manslaughter. A preliminary hearing is schedule for those cases in August.