Millie Koch
Simms, Texas
Millie Koch is a retired nursing home administrator who has worked in the nursing home industry for more than 20 years in both Texas and Florida. In 2003, she moved back home to Texas to be closer to her parents, Horace and Dolores Phillips.
Millie has since lost both of her parents due to nursing home neglect. She is now the chairperson for her local chapter of Texas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents. Because of Proposition 12’s cap on non-economic damages, Millie has been unable to hold those who caused her parents’ deaths accountable.
Millie originally put them both of her parents in a nursing home so that they could be together while her mother received therapy after a heart catheterization. The family had planned for them to return home soon.
Horace and Dolores both fell while trying to get Horace to the bathroom without the help that Dolores had requested. As a result of the fall, she broke three bones in her leg and hip and was never able to walk again.
After that, Millie moved her parents to two other equally poor nursing homes, where Dolores passed away from a heart attack caused by an overdose of potassium.
After three weeks in the hospital to recover from his fall, Horace was brought to a nursing home. Millie felt that the more often that she and her sister visited and the more changes they wanted with their father’s care, the more hostile and unhelpful the staff became with the family.
Several months later, the sisters visited their father who had not been out of bed all day. He was supposed to have a feeding tube and oxygen on at all times, but had neither at the time of their visit. He was also feeling extremely ill.
A nurse administered a large shot of antibiotics into Horace’s arm but could not explain to his daughters why it was ordered. That night, the nursing home called Millie and asked permission to admit her father to the emergency room. She was told that he was being sent to the hospital so that his peg tube could be evaluated. What they did not tell her was that he was already in a coma. By noon the following day, he was dead.
Medical records showed that he had pneumonia and was very dehydrated. His left lung and stomach were completely full of liquid. He was also anemic, continually losing blood, and suffering from a large bed sore on his hip. They found out that he was allergic to the antibiotic shot that had been administered the previous day, and that the allergy had been noted in his file. All of this was documented by a mortician, but Millie encountered difficulty getting the information included in the death certificate.
Both of Millie’s parents died needlessly due to pure neglect on the part of the nursing homes which were entrusted with their care, but Proposition 12 has barred Millie from seeking justice for their deaths.
