The estate of Bill Tolle recently filed a lawsuit against Hospice of Hope in Maysville, Medical Director for Hospice Dr. William Craig Denham and a hospice nurse.
This lawsuit alleges negligence in Tolle’s treatment which ultimately led to his death last year.
Tolle was a farmer, involved with many agriculture related organizations both locally and statewide and an active member of the Maysville Rotary Club.
According to the complaint, Tolle was admitted to Meadowview Regional Medical Center on Sept. 24, 2018, and received a blood transfusion. While in the hospital, Denham visited Tolle on Sept. 25 and allegedly told him that he would like Tolle to be transferred to Hospice of Hope in Maysville for “two to three days of rehab” so that he could gain strength and avoid catching pneumonia through a longer hospital stay.
Executive Director Kavin Cartmell said Hospice of Hope provides a wide range of services.
“When a patient elects the hospice Medicare benefit, those care and services are individualized for each patient based on their needs,” she said. “So whether that’s durable medical equipment, medications, therapies, special equipment, those are all items that are covered under the hospice Medicare benefit.”
The complaint further claims that according to discharge records/orders, if Tolle’s condition changed while under hospice’s care, he was to be taken back to Meadowview immediately. Denham also further ordered Bill Tolle to continue taking Spiriva and Symbicort, medications that help manage the symptoms of asthma and COPD, according to the lawsuit.
When the conversation between Bill Tolle and Denham took place, Don Tolle, Amber Tolle and W. Rodney Tolle were also present, the lawsuit indicates
Once transferred to hospice care, Bill Tolle allegedly received no apparent therapy or exercise from the nurses nor was he allegedly given Spiriva and Symbicort as ordered by Denham.
Over the next several days Bill Tolle’s health allegedly began to deteriorate. He died on Sept. 27, 2018 after spending two days under Hospice of Hope care.
According to the complaint, although he had never been diagnosed with pneumonia, Denham listed Bill Tolle’s death as “hospital acquired pneumonia.”
While Denham was unavailable for comment Thursday, Cartmell said she stands by the quality of care that hospice provided over the years.
“I would comment that since 1988 our organization has maintained a culture of providing the highest level of hospice care to both our patients and their families,” she said. “As an organization, we promote advanced employee certification and education. We hold ourselves to a higher standard by choosing accrediting organizations like Joint Commission and Certification. So we still like that our organization is committed and we strive to provide the best possible care to all of those patients and families that we serve in our community, and we stand behind the standard of care and services that we’ve provided.”
Rodney Tolle, executor of Bill Tolle’s, his father’s, estate, declined to comment on the lawsuit as did his attorney Mark Schumacher.
A lawsuit tells only one side of a legal dispute.
