Solon assisted living facility sued for lack of care, wrongful death, theft

IOWA CITY — A Florida man is suing Solon Retirement Village for failing to provide management and oversight of staff — one nurse who is criminally charged with stealing from his aunt — as well as other staff members who didn’t provide proper medical care and treatment for his loved one.

Henry Huber of Lake Worth Beach, Fla., the nephew and executor for his aunt, Evelyn LaPlace, 91, is suing Solon Retirement Village, 523 East Fifth St. in Solon, Solon Retirement Village Foundation and Tiffany Leigh Koss, a former registered nurse of the facility, for wrongful death, negligence, dependent adult abuse and breach of contract.

Huber, in his lawsuit filed in March, contends the Solon facility negligently cared for LaPlace, who died Sept. 11, 2020, while living at the facility, and violated numerous regulations, laws, rights and industry standards causing her personal injury and harm.

The assisted living facility failed to provide care, treatment and services, full nursing assessments, reliable charting — documentation of care, properly administering medication and nutrition, and failed to prevent pressure — bed- sores and falls, according to the lawsuit.

As a result of this negligence, the suit contends, LaPlace suffered unnecessary or preventable treatable health conditions, “which ultimately resulted in her untimely death.”

Koss, 50, of Swisher, a nurse who was fired after an investigation in these allegations, also has been criminally charged in Johnson County District Court with eight counts of forgery and one count of dependent adult abuse. She was arrested on a warrant early last month.

According to the lawsuit and criminal complaints, she is accused of making unauthorized charges on LaPlace’s credit card and also forged several checks from LaPlace’s account.

The lawsuit states Koss’ theft totaled over $13,600.

According to the complaints, Koss was LaPlace’s primary caregiver at the facility and had access to LaPlace’s Amazon account to ship nearly $1,000 in personal items to Koss’ home. Koss would also take LaPlace to the grocery store and received hundreds in cash advances, which Koss pocketed.

The complaints also include forged checks for various amounts, ranging from over $150 to $2,000, which all had forged signatures of LaPlace that matched others signed by Koss and used for her personal expenses.

Iowa Board of Nursing documents show Koss’ nursing license was first issued in 2006 when she started working at the Solon facility. Her license was renewed in May 2010 and it was set to expire Aug. 15, of last year, before a settlement agreement and final order of her indefinite suspension was filed Jan. 13, of last year.

She was charged by the board of soliciting, borrowing or misappropriating money or property from a patient, regardless of patient consent.

According to the board’s documents, between October 2018 and June 2020, Koss received cash and items paid for by a patient on several occasions totaling more than $8,000. She told management at the facility on July 5, 2020 that a $4,000 check was given to her by a resident for her and/or her family member.

The board’s order lists five checks, ranging from $750 to $2,500 of checks made out to Koss and cashed. Several online retail orders for items were placed from December 2019 through June of 2020, which billed the patient’s credit card but the items were shipped to Koss’ home address, according to the documents.

The board indefinitely suspended Koss’ license pending receipt of a mental health evaluation and other requirements.

After Koss’ arrest last month, she was released without bail and her arraignment hasn’t been set at this time. Each charge is a Class D felony – punishable up to five years in prison.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com