Ohio Nursing Home Resident Dies After Sunbathing

"Temperature Was In Mid-90s"

POSTED: 12:22 pm EDT June 27, 2005
WATERVILLE, Ohio -- A woman sunbathing for several hours in 95 degree heat at her nursing home was found unconscious and died at a hospital with a temperature of 109 degrees, a coroner's investigator said.
Staff members at the Heartland of Browning nursing home periodically checked on Patricia Matney, 49, before she was found unconscious in the late afternoon, said Steve Kahle of the Lucas County coroner's office.
Matney, who had multiple sclerosis, regularly spent time outdoors at the facility, said Julie Beckert, communications director for owner HCR Manor Care. She was found in a courtyard popular with residents and visitors that is monitored by staff, the company said in a statement.
The coroner's office started an autopsy Monday.
HCR is assisting officials in their investigations, Beckert said.
'Quality care is of paramount concern at Heartland,' the company's statement said.
Matney lived in the 120-bed nursing home near Toledo since 2001. "