An elderly man aged 85 from New York City entered a nursing home for a temporary rehabilitation period with intentions of reuniting with his wife shortly thereafter. However, a lawsuit alleges that due to the facility’s negligence, he was hospitalized weeks later with a severe Stage 4 bedsore, pneumonia, and sepsis, ultimately leading to his death.

Bronx resident Robert Spadacini was admitted to Providence Rest Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in the Country Club area on November 28, 2023. This admission followed a brief hospital stay for issues related to swelling in his legs and difficulty breathing. The legal complaint, filed by his wife, Mary Ann Spadacini, and recently accessed by Law&Crime, details these events.

The complaint highlights that Spadacini was supposed to undergo short-term rehabilitation at Providence Rest with plans to return home to his wife. The care of two separate doctors was involved in his treatment, as noted in the document.

Approximately on January 12, 2024, Spadacini was transferred from the nursing home to Jack D. Weiler Hospital. Upon admission, he was diagnosed with a bacterial infection, severe pneumonia, and sepsis, according to the complaint.

Hospital doctors also identified a critical condition: a Stage 4 bedsore in the sacral region, indicating extensive skin and tissue damage down to the muscle and bone. This alarming discovery was recorded in the legal documents.

Spadacini remained in the hospital for less than two weeks, receiving treatment for his health issues until he passed away on January 24, 2024. The cause of death was determined to be sepsis resulting from multi-lobar pneumonia, as per the complaint.

Mary Spadacini’s lawyers, who include attorneys from the New York-based firm German Rubenstein, LLP and nursing home litigation firm Michael Hill Trial Law, allege that Spadacini died due to “careless” and “negligent” treatment he received from “nurses, doctors, attendants and/or employees” while at Providence Rest.

“The severe pain and suffering were caused solely by reason of the carelessness, negligence, malpractice, departure from the accepted standard of care, from the wanton and willful disregard on the part of the defendants,” the complaint says, naming Providence Rest and its affiliates, including the healthcare ministry of the Archdiocese of New York, ArchCare, as defendants.

“The foregoing negligence and malpractice claimed was done with reckless, grossly negligent disregard for the welfare, health, and well-being of Robert Spadacini,” the complaint concludes.

ArchCare and the other Providence Rest affiliates named in the lawsuit did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment on Wednesday.

“Mr. Spadacini entered the nursing home without infection or pressure sores, and weeks later, he was hospitalized with a Stage 4 bedsore, pneumonia, and sepsis,” attorney Michael Hill told Law&Crime. “When those kinds of conditions develop under a facility’s exclusive care, it raises serious questions about whether basic standards of monitoring and treatment were followed and that’s indefensible.”