Palos Hills Healthcare hit with wrongful death lawsuit

The family of a Cook County woman is suing a Palos Hill nursing home, claiming its negligence led to her death.

Edwin Ellis, as special administrator of the Estate of Doris Ellis, filed a wrongful death lawsuit June 6 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Palos Hills Healthcare and Palos Hills Healthcare LLC.

According to the complaint, Doris was admitted to Palos Hills Healthcare on April 13, 2012, and assessed as low-risk for the development of pressure sores. Ellis claims while Doris was a resident there, she developed pressure ulcers that staff failed to treat and by Sept. 11, 2012, the sores had deteriorated to stage III, contributing to her Sept. 19 death.

Ellis is seeking more than $50,000 in damages and is being represented in the case by Chicago attorney Michael T. Mertz of Hurley McKenna & Mertz.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L006035.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.