There is a current movement to provide immunity for all Missouri nursing homes  during the pandemic. Initially, Missouri Senate Bill 51 was designed to remove liability for nursing homes for Covid-19 deaths. The bill has since expanded to remove culpability for neglect, abuse and wrongful death during that time frame, regardless of Covid-19.  My mother was STARVED to death.

My mother was diagnosed with Covid-19 and moved into isolation.  As an Alzheimer patient, she required full assistance with eating and drinking. My mother did well with Covid and only experienced a mild fever one day. While she was is isolation, the nursing home staff failed to feed or hydrate her. Day after Day they put a tray of food next to her bed and removed it, untouched, at the end of each meal time. No one offered her water, no one helped feed her. Her weight dropped an unbelievable 41lbs in 6 days. She became easier to care for because she no longer had enough fluid in her body to require changing of her adult diapers and her kidneys began to shut down from the severe dehydration.

My father, her husband of 67 years, went daily to visit her through the window since he was no longer allowed in the facility due to Covid lockdown. Prior to the pandemic he visited her EVERY day for 5 years, usually multiple times a day so he could personally feed her breakfast and dinner. Their love story is one for the ages, and they have been together since my mother, Daphne, was 16 years old. My father remained ever dedicated to her, through richer, poorer, in sickness and in health. As a Colonel in the U.S. Airforce, he and my mother travelled the world together and when she needed him most, he stayed by her side every day faithfully serving and caring for her, until he was no longer allowed to see her.

My father continued to visit her during her time in isolation. He'd ask the nurses to move her close to the window so he could blow her kisses and let her know she was not alone. He saw her get weaker and more emaciated day by day.  Every time he inquired, he was told that her vitals were stable and she had no Covid symptoms. He repeatedly alarmed the staff that "she looked dehydrated and skinny."  He asked them to make sure they offered her water, and he even offered to bring her extra food. The staff took no action for days on end. After 5 straight days of requesting a doctor visit with no response, he knew she was in immediate peril. We made made arrangements to have her pulled from the facility and taken to the hospital by ambulance.  An ambulance was called and transported her to the ER where they noted her emaciated state and severe dehydration. We were prepared by the physicians that she might not rebound from her acute kidney failure. She was hospitalized and died of dehydration on November 6, 2020.

We notified Missouri State Inspectors who promptly responded and visited the facility. They investigated my mother's case and agreed the nursing home failed to notice her change in condition, failed to notify her physician, failed to weigh her as ordered by her physician, failed to follow dietician recommendations and failed to document her food or fluid intake. She was starved and dehydrated to death.

Please help us stop this Missouri Senate Bill 51 which provides "blanket" immunity for nursing homes during the pandemic. My mother deserved food and water, the nursing home should have responded to our concerns and requests for her care and the facility owners should not receive immunity from responsibility for this neglect. - Thank You