County Sues Nursing Home Over Patient Left in Scalding Hot Shower

By Daniel Hawn

Published on January 31, 2006

According to the lawsuit, in May 2004, an employee of the McGarvey House nursing home left patient Theresa Rodriguez in a shower with water that reached 135 degrees. Water at this temperature can burn the skin in as little as 30 seconds, the lawsuit states.

Rodriguez remained in the shower for 20 minutes before employees removed her. The employees then waited three hours before calling paramedics, the suit claims.

A helicopter arrived and took Rodriguez to a hospital where she remained on life support for the next two months.

Rodriguez, 51, currently resides in a subacute care center at a hospital in Daly City. She is unable to feed herself and can no longer operate a wheelchair to get around, Deputy County Counsel Portor Goltz said.

The employee who left Rodriguez in the shower has since pleaded no contest to a felony count of elder abuse. She received two months in jail and three years of probation.

The lawsuit against ResCare, the operator of McGarvey House at the time of the incident, alleges that the nursing home did not adequately train its employees. The suit seeks undetermined damages.

An attorney for ResCare said that the facility's employees acted appropriately in contacting authorities. He also said that a defective water heater could have been the cause of the incident.

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