Inset: Tamara Bircumshaw (Lindquist Mortuary). Background: The Utah nursing home where Tamara Bircumshaw’s family says she developed deadly bedsores due to “total neglect” (Google Maps).
A Utah family is seeking justice after the tragic death of Tamara “Tammy” Bircumshaw, a 66-year-old Walmart greeter who succumbed to severe bedsores while in rehabilitation at a nursing facility. According to a lawsuit filed by her family, these bedsores, described as being as large as an iPhone, developed as a result of inadequate care during her stay at Rocky Mountain Care in Clearfield.
The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home was grossly understaffed, a factor that contributed to the neglect leading to Tammy’s death. “Total neglect on their end is what ended up taking her,” asserted her son, Kenny Bircumshaw, in an interview with local ABC affiliate KTVX.
Initially, Tammy, a beloved grandmother from Layton, was in good spirits upon entering the rehabilitation facility. However, her condition rapidly declined, leaving her in significant pain and discomfort, as her son recounted. Her health had already been compromised by a back injury sustained at work, necessitating back surgery. Unfortunately, complications from this surgery led to further issues with her hips, which required replacement surgery.
According to the family’s attorney, Barry Toone, the signs of neglect became apparent shortly after Tammy was admitted to the facility in July 2022. Within just 11 days, she began developing the severe bedsores that would ultimately contribute to her death in July 2023.
“After getting the back fixed… it started to deteriorate on her hips, so she had to have her hips replaced,” he told KTVX.
The family’s lawyer, Barry Toone, recounts how it took just 11 days for Tammy Bircumshaw to start developing bedsores at Rocky Mountain Care after she was admitted in July 2022 following a hip surgery.
“She was expected to be there for a short period of time and then get the other hip done,” he said. “When she went back to the hospital to get the other hip done, they told her she couldn’t do it because of that pressure sore.”
Kenny Bircumshaw added, “The surgeon called us from the operating room saying that he couldn’t do the surgery because she had too big of a pressure sore.”
According to the family’s lawsuit, Tammy Bircumshaw tested positive for MRSA just one month after her surgery was cancelled.
“Ms. Bircumshaw did not begin receiving specialized wound care until Dec. 27, 2022, at which time she was diagnosed with a stage-4 pressure ulcer,” the lawsuit alleges, according to KTVX. “By that time, she had developed three bedsores.”
Toone says Tammy Bircumshaw had a pressure wound that was “11-by-10-by-4 centimeters, and she died of sepsis.” He told KTVX that the wound was the size of two iPhones side by side.
“She just laid there and was miserable… for her last day of life,” remembered Kenny Bircumshaw. “She told my son she loved him. That was the one and only thing that she said the whole entire night, and she passed away in the morning.”
The Bircumshaw family has accused Rocky Mountain Care of being “chronically understaffed,” which led to Tammy being neglected and not taken care of properly.
Attempts by Law&Crime to reach the facility for comment were unsuccessful Sunday. It declined to comment when reached by KTVX.
