NJ man died after nursing home sent him on 3-hour Uber ride, widow says

The widow of an Ocean County man is suing a Pennsylvania senior-living facility, accusing it of negligence and wrongful death for sending an 81-year-old patient on a nearly three-hour Uber ride home across state lines in 2018, during which he suffered severe medical emergencies.

According to the federal lawsuit, Eugene Hamill moved into Twin Cedars residential facility on July 6, 2018. Hamill had multiple serious health conditions, including bone cancer and degenerative joint disease, and was required to wear a cardiac life vest "due to cardiac complications."

The lawsuit names former Twin Cedars administrator Tamara Singer as a co-defendant, making the claim that Singer was the person who discharged Hamill without providing his wife with advance notice.

On September 11, 2018, Hamill was discharged, put into a ride share vehicle and sent from the living facility in Pike County to his family's residence in Toms River, the lawsuit says.

Over the course of the ride, the lawsuit said Hamill began vomiting and eventually became unresponsive.

The complaint does not explain whether the Uber driver had sought earlier medical attention, but said that Hamill had suffered both a stroke and heart attack and required EMS transport to Barnabas Health Community Medical Center, where he was intubated, placed on a ventilator, and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Hamill was then transferred to a nursing facility, where he remained until his death on Sept. 26, 2019, a day before he turned 83.

His wife of 63 years, Jeanne Hamill, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services determined that Hamill was a "victim of neglect due to the unsafe discharge," after a Sept. 13, 2018 inspection based on a complaint regarding Hamill.

Twin Cedars had its license revoked in December 2018 for the failure to provide a 30-day discharge notice, and the facility was then issued a provisional license.

On written notice of the violation, Singer said she disagreed with the findings, as the situation was very "complex, with many different parties involved and their abandonment of this resident."

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