Former S.C. Nursing Home Resident Dies of Malnutrition

Posted on Apr 28, 2008

Prosperity, S.C. police have arrested nursing home owner Roy Bowers and charged him with neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in death.” His health care administration license was suspended by the state.

The arrest came days after William Sealy, a 1-year resident of Southside Residential Care Facility ,was taken to Newberry County Memorial Hospital after suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, pressure sores, bed-bug infestation and black, swollen toes. After examining Sealy, hospital medical personnel contacted police.

Sealy was put on a ventilator at the hospital. Three weeks later, he died of pneumonia and severe infection. It was reported he had suffered from schizophrenia.

Prosperity, S.C. Police Chief Craig Nelson told WLTX-TV, the CBS affiliate in Columbia it was, “one of the toughest cases I’ve been involved in. It was definitely the most heartbreaking.” At the hospital, Nelson watched nurses treat Sealy. "After pulling off his socks that he had had on his feet for sometime, it pulled off portions of his skin. His feet were also covered in bed bugs,” the chief said.

When brought to the hospital ER, Sealy weighed 94 pounds, 70 pounds below the average weight for a man his age, medical officials said. Sealy’s ears were packed with fluid and one of his toes had blackened. Attending personnel at the hospital said Sealy had not been bathed in over one week

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Southside’s most recent inspection was in January 2007, when officials found documentation errors. DHEC said Southside’s staff members were meeting training requirements and resident care plans were properly updated.