Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507170048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
City police served a search warrant on the Avante at Roanoke Health Care Center this week, seeking the medical records of William Raymond Stump, who died Jan. 28 at the Southwest Roanoke facility.
Questions about Stump's death arose during an autopsy conducted by David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, according to the search warrant filed Friday in Roanoke Circuit Court.
The autopsy found "an unexplained high level" of hydrocodone, a narcotic painkiller, in Stump's blood, the warrant states. Police obtained the search warrant after Avante officials declined to turn over medical records at Oxley's request.
But police are not investigating the death, and Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said Friday that it was too early to say whether charges would come out of Oxley's investigation.
Gerald Colston, executive director at Avante, said Oxley apparently wanted the medical records to see if a physician had ordered the medication for Stump, and that the request did not suggest that wrongdoing was alleged.
"It was my understanding that the situation was not necessarily something that was chiseled in stone," Colston said, "but it was just a suspicion the doctor had as a result of the autopsy."
Oxley declined to comment.
Colston, who came to Avante in March, said the nursing home had no administrator when Stump's records first were requested by Oxley. Had he been there, Colston said, he would have turned over the records without the need for a search warrant.
According to the warrant, seven folders of Stump's medical records were given to police after they served the warrant Thursday. Stump "had obviously been here awhile," Colston said.
Oxley's investigation comes at a time when Avante, on King George Avenue, has had other problems with patient care.
Earlier this week, a former housekeeper pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an 84-year-old woman in the day area of the facility. He received a suspended jail sentence and was placed on probation.
And two years ago, a state investigation at Avante turned up dozens of violations of federal long-term health care requirements and Virginia nursing home regulations.
Violations included failing to uphold the dignity of residents, problems such as malfunctioning call buttons and air conditioners, and pest infestation at the 141-bed facility. Several months later, state officials said many of those problems had been corrected.
"We at Avante are a good facility," Colston said. While there have been some "bad raps" in the past, he said, "we do provide a good level of care."
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB