The household of a nurse who died of COVID-19 final 12 months received a delayed sense of validation from the federal authorities, after a report confirmed the ability the place he labored was certainly liable for security failures he claimed earlier than his loss of life.
Edgar Alberto died from coronavirus issues final April after he had been working as a nurse at the close by scandal-plagued Andover Subacute Nursing Home in Sussex County — the identical facility the place police mentioned 17 bodies were found piled inside a small morgue.
Alberto’s widow, Mary Jane Mustera, mentioned her husband and the opposite staff had been taking care of the sufferers, however “they did not know who was a COVID affected person.” She mentioned her husband was additionally fearful about insufficient PPE.
“The safety that he wants, they want, they did not give it,” Mustera mentioned an interview with the I-Team.
Alberto, who had an 11-year-old son, died within the hospital the identical week that the grotesque discovery was made, with the our bodies of a number of sufferers discovered stacked within the makeshift morgue at the ability. His widow could not course of what had occurred to him.
“I need to cross out, however I’m controlling it,” she mentioned about how she reacted after studying information of Alberto’s loss of life. “When I appeared at my son, he is leaping, he is shouting ‘No mommy, it is not true, it is not true.”
Disturbing particulars emerge concerning the NJ nursing dwelling the place our bodies had been piled inside a small morgue. Sarah Wallace studies.
State and federal investigations in Spring 2020 discovered lases in inspection management and a systemic failure in fundamental protocols. But a couple of weeks in the past, Mustera received a particular letter from OSHA about her husband’s loss of life. It famous breakdowns in required N-95 masks protections, and labeled the violations as “critical.”
For the failures, Andover was penalized greater than $22,000, which the administration agreed to pay.
“If solely they provide him the safety … he’d nonetheless be alive,” Mustera mentioned.
“All the investigations that I’ve performed representing individuals, there is a sign not solely that OSHA appeared into a particular loss of life, however there have been findings as to the violations that brought about and led to somebody’s loss of life,” mentioned the household’s legal professional Juan Fernandez.
To add to the household’s ache, the union initially rejected the household’s $25,000 loss of life profit as a result of Alberto’s widow did not file inside 90 days of his loss of life. However, the union on Tuesday mentioned it was now going to pay the loss of life profit.
Andover’s proprietor or legal professional didn’t reply to requests for remark. However, a latest inspection by the state discovered that the nursing dwelling was in compliance.
An investigation by the state legal professional basic is ongoing.
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