Family says nursing home with COVID-19 outbreak was negligent in caring for son

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The coronavirus pandemic has made it tough on staff at Hunter Woods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in north Charlotte.

Channel 9 has heard from several people worried about the quality of care at the facility since more than a dozen of the staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

We told you last week that a Hunter Woods employee who tested positive for the virus was asked to keep working.

Pamela Withers told us that their son Melvin has been at the center for about a year after he was paralyzed from the waist down in a shooting.

She said that she and her husband, John McComb, haven’t been able to see Melvin since the facility was locked down due to the pandemic, but when she got a picture of her son’s foot last week, she said they were horrified.

“At first it started out like a small sore, now it’s like a big hole down to the bone,” McComb said.

It’s unclear how the infection got so severe, but Hunter Woods has been dealing with staffing shortages since the coronavirus hit.

As of Wednesday, the state said 14 staffers have tested positive.

The facility is one of 21 nursing homes and long term care facilities with workers out with the virus, including Peak Resources on Central Avenue, which has had 49 staff members test positive.

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In a statement, the president of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association Adam Sholar told us that staffing shortages have not impacted overall care.

“State and federal regulators continue to frequently conduct in-person inspections of nursing homes. Almost all of these inspections are finding no issues of concern.”

The investigators may not have seen what Withers and her husband said they’ve seen. The couple said they aren’t convinced.

“Anybody that can see can see that something’s gone wrong in that situation,” McCombs said.

Channel 9 reached out to Hunter Woods but has not yet gotten a response.

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