TEANECK, NJ (PIX11) — A family is suing one year after a beloved dad froze to death outside a New Jersey nursing facility, his daughter announced Tuesday.
George Foster, a 61-year-old man who had diabetes and who’d suffered a stroke, was last seen on Feb. 14, 2022, daughter Sabria Dickerson said. He was given insulin around 9:30 p.m. that night. His body was found outside early the next day.
“I don’t want another family to have to go through what I’ve gone through,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
Foster began staying at Teaneck Nursing Center on March 1, 2021, Dickerson’s lawyer said. He needed a wheelchair to move around.
Staff at the facility noted he wasn’t in his room at midnight on Feb. 15, 2022, Juliana Burdo, lead counsel on the case, said. No action was taken. At 4 a.m., staff again noted Foster wasn’t in his room. His body was found outside at 5:20 a.m.
Temperatures that night had dropped into the teens. Foster’s cause of death was ruled hypothermia.
“Had they bothered to look, had they bothered to check the perimeter, the outside, their very own patio, they would have found him hours before,” Burdo said.
Dickerson said her dad was a good man. She said he worked at McDonald’s for 25 years and spent time as management. Dickerson, who noted her dad always made sure workers were safe, said she couldn’t believe the nursing facility hadn’t kept her father safe.
“It’s a tragedy,” she said. “I can’t even believe that you leave your loved one in these facilities and they are not taking precautions.”
Teaneck Nursing Center currently has two stars out of five on medicare.gov. The facility rating is based on health inspections, staffing and quality measures.
PIX11 has reached out to Family of Caring, which owns the nursing facility.
