Care Initiatives, the nonprofit West Des Moines owner of Southridge Specialty Care, is facing two lawsuits in Marshall County.

A June 9 jury trial has been set for the first case pertaining to the alleged wrongful termination of an employee after a report was made to a state agency. According to the original petition filed in December 2024, former employee Tina Weber worked for the nursing home as a nurse for three years, since 2021.

The petition states that in October 2024, Weber saw a schizophrenic patient in a wheelchair get into an argument with a Care Initiatives human resources employee. When the patient attempted to leave, the employee grabbed the wheelchair handles, causing the patient to fall out and get injured. The human resources employee began joking about the incident.

The situation caused Weber to become concerned for the well being of the patient. So she gave a report to the assistant director of nursing and recorded it in the patient’s chart. The next day, the director nursing texted Weber:

“For the instance with [the HR professional], could you strike out original note and when putting in about the wheelchair say she was assisting with the wheelchair and he put himself on the ground as she tried to de-escalate him and explain that he was not allow[ed] to smoke and the policy[.]”

The petition states that the changes requested in the text were false, and Weber responded by asking if she should not tell the truth. Twice more, she was asked to change her account in the patient’s chart. Then someone from the corporate level of Care Initiatives instructed Weber to make the changes, but she refused. Weber filed a report of the incident with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, which forwarded it to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL). The day after a DIAL representative visited Southridge to look into the incident, Weber was fired.

According to the petition, she was fired because of the reports she filed and complaints she made about the incident. Weber is seeking lost wages and benefits, punitive damages and more.

Responding to the petition, Care Initiatives states Weber was not fired for allegedly reporting the incident, all of their actions were justified for legitimate business reasons and any damages Weber incurred were the result of her own actions.

The second case has been in arbitration since April and regards the wrongful death of Larry Nichols, who was a resident from March 2022 to July 2022. In addition to Care Initiatives, GrapeTree Medical Staffing, Fusion Medical Staffing and Medical Solutions are listed as defendants.

Nichols was admitted for rehabilitation after a brief hospital stay and the original petition filed with the court states they failed to develop or implement a care plan and address his needs. As a result, he became weak, developed a fever and hypotension. Nichols, a Type 2 diabetic, also had infected open lesions on his right foot which sent him into septic shock and caused his death, which staff did not adequately treat.

Southridge did not have enough qualified staff members to meet the needs of all residents, including Nichols, at the time. The reason for that, according to the petition, was the desire to maximize profits by reducing the number of employees, violating state and federal laws.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.