Sara Bizzard was a mother, a caregiver, and a lifelong advocate for children. In 2018, she went to Riverview Health and Rehabilitation Center in Savannah for short-term care after breaking her arm. She was supposed to return home. Instead, she died just four months later—suffering from severe sepsis, dehydration, a urinary tract infection, and a massive, untreated bedsore.

Her family filed a lawsuit, alleging that Sara’s death was caused by Riverview’s neglect. The case settled—but for her daughter, Latifah, the loss was personal and permanent. “No money can replace a loved one,” she said. “I would have wanted my mom instead of a lawsuit.”

That should have been a wake-up call. But it wasn’t.

Seven years later, Riverview is still open—and still being cited for dangerous violations. In February 2025 alone, state and federal inspectors documented nine serious incidents, including a nurse throwing a lift pad at a resident and yelling, “I’m sick of you.” The same report says Riverview failed to protect two cognitively impaired residents from sexual and verbal abuse—and failed to properly investigate what happened.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Riverview has been labeled a facility that places residents at risk of serious injury or death. And it’s not just one facility: over half of Savannah-area nursing homes are rated “below average” or “much below average” by federal standards.

We can’t let what happened to Sara keep happening. And we can’t keep letting facilities with repeated abuse and neglect citations operate with impunity.

We’re calling on the Georgia Department of Community Health to investigate Riverview’s long pattern of violations, revoke their license, and ensure no more families are left grieving preventable deaths.

Sara deserved better. Every resident does. If you agree, add your name to demand Riverview be shut down—before more lives are lost.