Matthew K. Schwencke, of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley in West Palm Beach. Courtesy photo.

The children of 90-year-old West Palm Beach nursing home resident Dolly Mallan, who overheated and died after Hurricane Irma caused a power outage at the facility, have filed a negligence suit over her death.

According to the complaint, Michael Desalvo, executive director of Senior Living Properties V LLC., also known as Savannah Court of the Palm Beaches, failed to “ensure that air conditioning would be operational during after after Hurricane Irma,” which made landfall on Sept. 10, 2017, and cut power to almost two million South Floridians.

Without air conditioning, Mallan became dehydrated and began “overheating.”

Mallan's hospice worker checked in on Sept. 12 and transferred her to the Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach because she was “overheating” and “really hot.”

Mallan later became “unresponsive” and died Sept. 15 “as a result of her body shutting down,” the complaint said.

“If you were to tell me that this would potentially be a case from the year 2017 in South Florida, I would have told you you need to check what you're drinking,” said plaintiffs attorney Matthew K. Schwencke of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley in West Palm Beach.

According to Schwencke, Mallan's family were unaware that Savannah Court had no back-up generators.

Read the full complaint:

The way Schwenke sees it, South Florida is no stranger to hurricanes, and therefore the facility should have expected and prepared for a power outage.

“The more people that learn of what happened here, the better,” Schwencke said.

Jay Stowers, risk manager to Senior Living Management's Florida locations, would not comment on the litigation but said that “the safety of residents is of the utmost importance” to everyone at the company.

Savannah Court and Desalvo's presuit attorney, Constantine “Dean” Nickas of Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford in Miami, did not respond to comment requests before deadline.

Dallan's son, Benjamin “Pat” Kelley, claimed he called Savannah Court before the storm to ensure it was “capable of maintaining a safe environment for his mother if the hurricane struck.” According to the complaint, the head nurse informed Kelley the facility was “prepared” and “everything was going to be OK.”

Kelley called again after the hurricane hit and was told his mother was OK and “everything was fine,” the complaint said.

The day after Mallan was transferred out, an anonymous tip that the heat was “unbearable for the elderly residents” prompted the West Palm Beach Police Department to investigate.

Responding officers Detective Andrea Izzo-Higgins and Sgt. Lori Colombino were “struck with a strong odor” and a “considerably high temperature” upon entry, and observed residents ”in paper clothing attempting to cool off,” the complaint said.

Nursing home. Photo: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock.com.

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“What we learned from the police documents is that the executive director, Michael Desalvo, had refused generators the previous day, which is completely unexplainable,” Schwenke said.

DeSalvo told WPTV in 2017 that he didn't accept the generators because “some were already on the way,” and he didn't want to take from “those who really needed them.”

The facility was equipped with generators by the time officers arrived, but the first floor was significantly cooler than the second floor.

During the police investigation, Desalvo told Colombino that many of the residents on the second floor hadn't been brought down because they were immobile and the elevator was out of order.

Colombino also claimed Desalvo called the elderly residents ”a bunch of whiny crybabies.”

Schwencke said that Mallan's son Kelley, who lived locally, feels “a sense of guilt” over what happened to his mother.

“He was here,” Schwencke said. “Had he known, he would have taken her out. He experiences guilt even though he shouldn't. It's not his fault.”

Mallan had been at the home since June 2016.

“The entire family was deprived of saying goodbye,” Schwencke said. “That, on top of the manner in which Dolly Mallan died, which is without any dignity, is awful. I do a lot of nursing home and assisted living abuse and neglect cases. Frankly, I've never seen this before and I couldn't even imagine it.”

 

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