Estate of Alice McGaw v. Faith Gardens, Inc., et al.

Elopement, severely demented resident allowed to escape facility in winter and freezes to death.

Alice McGaw was an 84-year-old woman who died because of hypothermia after walking out of Faith Gardens Memory Care facility on December 28, 2017.  Alice suffered from moderate/severe dementia and was unable to communicate effectively with aides.  Her family had her placed at a “memory care” facility because she was no longer able to remain in her previous assisted living facility.  Alice was a frequent wanderer.  Alice, like many Alzheimer’s/Dementia patients, was a frequent wanderer throughout the building and into other resident’s rooms.  She would often try to leave the facility.  The main reason the family chose Faith Gardens is because they claimed to be a sufficiently staffed, “locked” memory care facility.  

On the night of December 28, 2017, Alice was noted to be wandering throughout the building for hours.  Despite her repeated attempts to leave the building, no one addressed Alice’s ISP (Individual Service Plan) or retrained the staff on how to redirect and ensure Alice safely remained in Faith Gardens.  According to discovery and depositions, “Alice was trying to escape all night.”  At 8:00 a.m., during shift change, no one could find Alice.  During the night she had wandered outside wearing only her pajamas and socks in subfreezing temperatures.  The two doors to enter and exit the building were not functioning for months and management should have been aware.  The alarmed door was turned off by staff and the inner door was propped open.  Alice was found deceased that morning across the snow filled parking lot leaning up against a neighboring shopping center.

As a result of the complaints to DHS and the vigilance by the family to ensure a proper investigation by Boller & Vaughan, DHS and the State of Wisconsin ultimately revoked the operating license for Faith Gardens.