Former staff members claim Salisbury nursing home didn’t do enough to prevent outbreak

SALISBURY, N.C. — Citadel nursing home in Salisbury is dealing with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in North Carolina.

Channel 9 has been investigating the facility and obtained new court documents Monday detailing shocking allegations.

Former staff members claim the owners of the Citadel were reckless and didn’t do enough to prevent the massive outbreak, according to court documents.

Darrien Brown Sr. told Channel 9 that he is hurt and disappointed in the way he says his mother was treated at the Citadel Salisbury.

The facility was her home before he said she was hospitalized and died of COVID-19 last week.

Brown said he supports a lawsuit filed weeks ago by other families asking a judge to step in and help prevent the spread of this virus.

“It doesn’t make sense for a company to put money over human decency,” he said.

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Eyewitness News reporter Tina Terry got her hands on five new affidavits that were filed in connection with the lawsuit.

In one, a former licensed practical nurse said the facility ignored a doctor’s request to test patients for COVID-19 in early March.

“...the facility was swabbing for flu, pneumonia, but corporate would not allow them to swab for COVID," the document read. “There was a big rise of residents having temperatures and fevers. It did not make sense to us as nurse personnel why the corporate owners were not jumping all over this.”

Another said, “In mid-March Citadel’s management locked up the masks that the facility already had on site and would not let the staff wear them during the early weeks of the outbreak.”

“I know a total change out of any kind of management needs to happen. The people who said no testing need to pay the consequences for their actions," Brown said.

Channel 9 reached out to a spokesperson for the owner of the Citadel, but has not yet heard back.

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