Found Deceased MA - Tim White, 62, missing for five weeks, found in stairwell at Bedford VA Hospital

[PayrollNerd]

A veteran died 20 yards from his room on the Bedford VA campus. No one noticed for five weeks - The Boston Globe
More at link
A veteran died 20 yards from his room on the Bedford VA campus. No one noticed for five weeks
Congressional delegation demands federal investigation of Tim White's tragic death
By Andrea Estes Globe Staff,Updated June 18, 2020,

Tim White still needed a walker to get around as he recovered from hip surgery. But the Army veteran and former chef, who lived in housing for formerly homeless veterans on the campus of the Bedford VA Medical Center, was in many ways his old self, wearing his trademark backwards baseball cap and befriending other residents.

Then, on May 8, the 62-year-old disappeared along with his walker. The private nonprofit that managed White’s building reported him missing to local police five days later.

But no one appears to have looked very hard for him: It turns out that White was lying at the bottom of a stairwell just 60 feet from his room for five weeks until a fellow resident discovered his body on June 12. White still had on the same clothes he was last seen wearing in early May — a baseball cap, Red Sox jersey, and jeans, according to the police report.

RIP Tim. I’m so sorry no one was there to help you!

So many failures all around! Obviously no procedure in place. No thorough search. The daughters lied to. OMG!

From the article:
Now, members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation — Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey as well as Representatives Seth Moulton, Lori Trahan, and Katherine Clark — are asking the VA’s inspector general to investigate the circumstances surrounding White’s death. And Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has launched her own investigation even though her office has said no foul play is suspected.

“For a veteran who served the country to die alone in a stairwell and not be discovered for that long a period of time is outrageous,” said Ryan.

Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Caritas Communities, which manages the housing for formerly homeless veterans, each have said the other was responsible for the building where White was discovered. VA officials say they had leased most of the property to Caritas and the residents were Caritas’s responsibility.

Caritas officials counter that their staff had been ordered by the VA police to stay away from the stairwells and were threatened with penalties if they violated that order.

But the circumstances surrounding White’s death are complex as well as somewhat mysterious. At the time of his death, White was not a patient but was living in a VA-owned building that had been converted to housing for homeless veterans by Caritas Communities. He had been living in the Bedford Veterans Quarters since early 2020, according to a Caritas spokesman.

As a resident, White was free to come and go, but Caritas staff onsite kept an eye on the residents, many of whom suffered underlying health conditions and substance abuse issues. And the rarely used emergency stairwell where he was found would have been an unusual choice for exiting the building since opening the door would have set off an alarm.

Caritas officials said they began looking for White and speaking to other residents on May 11, three days after he was last seen. When White still had not turned up two days later, Caritas employee Gail Bishop called the Bedford police to report him missing. The next day, Caritas notified the Bedford VA police that White was missing.

 

[mickey2942]

Right. Whistleblowers of America have been beating a drum for years about the dysfunctional VA system. Employees who speak out about problems at the VA are retaliated against. And the stories are so consistent, it is obvious that the VA coordinates this with skill.

Anytime there is a "problem" every one is "Rah, rah" let's solve the problems at the VA. And next week, they go onto the next news story, and nothing ever changes at the VA.

This isn't the first veteran to die like this at the VA, and he probably won't be the last.

VA nursing home inspections find veterans harmed in 52 facilities

 

[Spartygirl]

I thought I had seen something with his name earlier today but I can’t find that. Maybe I was mistaken. ETA: Who saw, heard, or read a report on the alarm??? I’d say it was overlooked.

Man found dead in stairwell at Bedford VA Hospital Campus a month after he went missing

A fellow resident of the facility found the body, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said.

A spokeswoman for Caritas Communities said the Bedford Veterans Quarters is a residential facility leased from the VA and provides housing for formerly homeless veterans.

She said the stairwell where the resident was found is outside the premises of Caritas and is alarmed and solely controlled by the VA.

Totally Unacceptable
Hard to imagine a body on a stairwell at a VA home for 5 weeks ???

 

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[weepingangel]

DA: Cause of death unknown for man found dead in Bedford VA Hospital stairwell

BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - An investigation could not determine the cause of death for a man who was found dead in the stairwell of the Veterans Hospital in Bedford, officials said.

Law enforcement officers reporting to a report of a deceased man inside a hospital stairwell found the 62-year-old man’s body, officials said back in June.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was last seen at the facility in May, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

After launching an investigation, the medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death, the district attorney’s office announced on Friday. They cite the amount of time between his death and when he was found as the reason.

 

[PayrollNerd]

DA: Cause of death unknown for man found dead in Bedford VA Hospital stairwell

BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - An investigation could not determine the cause of death for a man who was found dead in the stairwell of the Veterans Hospital in Bedford, officials said.

Law enforcement officers reporting to a report of a deceased man inside a hospital stairwell found the 62-year-old man’s body, officials said back in June.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was last seen at the facility in May, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

After launching an investigation, the medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death, the district attorney’s office announced on Friday. They cite the amount of time between his death and when he was found as the reason.

How unsettling and sad for his family.

 

[Jaanniss]

Criminal charges will not be filed in the death of a veteran at the VA Hospital in Bedford .
https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2119...ed-in-death-of-veteran-at-bedford-va-hospital

 

[weepingangel]

Veteran found dead in stairwell of Massachusetts VA hospital a month after reported missing

Much more at link
Confusion over proper procedures at a Veterans Affairs hospital allowed a dead veteran to go unnoticed in a stairwell for more than a month after he was reported missing, according to a federal report released Thursday.


The report by the VA’s inspector general detailed a series of missteps by staffers and police who searched for the missing veteran at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital campus in Bedford, Massachusetts.

 

[mickey2942]

Criminal charges will not be filed in the death of a veteran at the VA Hospital in Bedford .

Of course not. They never are. Findings usually lay the blame on "policy and coordination of care", usually placing blame on the veteran in some arcane byzantine verbiage.

 

[Laughing]

Slippery slope, but I expect the VA has some patients on electronic monitoring -- something like a GPS ankle monitor or bracelet.

If this veteran had ticked a few more boxes, a monitor might have been in use, and possibly monitoring could have saved his life.

(Says the person who removed the battery from their FitBit the moment FitBit announced their sale to Google. Yup.)

jmho ymmv lrr