The family of a man who was allegedly left “crying, shaking, and begging God to take his life” before he died at a Fort Dodge nursing home is suing the former owners of the now-shuttered facility.

The estate of Robert Kahler is suing QHC Fort Dodge Villa and its former corporate owners in Webster County District Court, alleging dependent adult abuse, breach of contract and wrongful death.

The lawsuit alleges that on June 27, 2021, Kahler was walking near the dining room of the Fort Dodge Villa Care Center when a certified medication aide noticed he was losing his balance and called out to a nearby nurse that Kahler was going to fall. The nurse was allegedly talking on her cell phone and did not look up or render any assistance.

Kahler allegedly fell to the concrete floor and was taken to his room, with the nurse continuing to talk on her phone. According to the lawsuit, Kahler yelled out that his hip hurt, but he was not provided with any pain medication. No QHC employee performed a physical, neurological or pain assessment of Kahler after the fall, the lawsuit claims.

That evening, Kahler was “repeatedly calling out in pain, moaning, crying, grimacing, clenching his fists and pulling or pushing away,” the lawsuit states. A QHC employee is alleged to have written in his medical file that he had sustained a “fall with no injury.”

About 22 hours after the fall, Kahler was given his first dose of pain medication. “Unfortunately, the pain medication was not effective, and Mr. Kahler continued to scream out in pain, resisted being transferred or moved, and even stopped eating and drinking,” the lawsuit states. “In the days following the fall, Mr. Kahler screamed in pain with any sort of movement, could be heard across the facility, (and) was crying, shaking, and begging God to take his life.”

Kahler steadily declined, developed a fever, became unable to swallow, and by July 1 all medications had been discontinued except those necessary for pain and comfort, the lawsuit claims. Kahler died on July 2, 2021. He was 77 years old.

State records show that one aide who was interviewed by investigators after Kahler’s death told inspectors “the facility is a mess” and that “the nurses don’t care.”

The state reports indicate Kahler’s screams of pain could be heard “approximately 200 feet away” when the staff attempted to reposition him in bed. A staff nurse told inspectors that Kahler’s hip was “rotated all the way to his buttock,” which made one leg significantly shorter than the other. The nurse told inspectors Kahler’s condition would have been obvious to anyone who had performed an assessment of his condition.

By the time state inspectors investigated the matter, there was a backlog of 10 uninvestigated complaints at the home, all of which were later substantiated. The facility was cited for 18 federal regulatory violations and four state violations, and the federal government imposed a set of daily fines against the home. Those fines accrued at a rate of almost $9,000 per day for each day the home remained out of compliance with minimum standards. They eventually totaled more than $685,000.

The lawsuit over Kahler’s death names as defendants the now-closed care facility and its past corporate owners and managers, including QHC Management, QHC Facilities, and Quality Health Care Specialists. Technically, however, none of those entities exist, having been dissolved this year in the wake of QHC’s bankruptcy and the sale of its assets. QHC’s primary owners were Jerry and Nancy Voyna, both of whom are now deceased.

Webster County records indicate that last year QHC sold the Fort Dodge Villa to Blue Care Homes of New Jersey for $956,250. This year, the property was transferred to a bank that was one of QHC’s creditors.

QHC Management had operated eight nursing homes and two assisted living facilities in Iowa, providing care for about 500 people, before it declared bankruptcy in late 2021. The chain was eventually sold to Blue Care Homes, but that company opted to close the Villa and other QHC facilities that owed significant amounts of money to taxpayers in the form of unpaid fines for poor quality care.

At the time the bankruptcy was working its way through the court system, QHC Fort Dodge Villa owed $865,775 in unpaid federal fines, according to court records. In addition, the QHC chain owed the state roughly $4 million in unpaid fees at the time it declared bankruptcy, according to court filings by QHC’s owners.

Kahler was born in Iowa and lived for a time near Spencer where he worked as an airplane mechanic. He later worked as a contractor and homebuilder in the Minneapolis area, and then, after retirement, he returned to Iowa where he was known for helping Kossuth County farmers and neighbors with projects. He was admitted to QHC Fort Dodge Villa after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.