UPDATED: Officials say nursing home resident froze to death outside

Lucy Perry photo

UPDATE 2/20/19-  The Indiana State Department of Health filed an injunction against Bethesda Gardens yesterday regarding the death of a resident at the healthcare facility last month.

The state is alleging that Bethesda Gardens, 1450 E. Crossing Blvd., is an unlicensed assisted living facility  

The civil case was filed in Vigo Superior Court 1 for a verified complaint and application for preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the continued practice of unlicensed care, according to court records.  


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Original story
1/28/19

By Lucy Perry
Indiana Central News

A  Vigo County Sheriff's Office death investigation is underway after an elderly nursing home resident died of hypothermia  Saturday morning.

Veronica Hofman, 75, of Bethesda Gardens, was pronounced dead at Regional Hospital after crews arrived around 4:30 a.m. on a report of a possible cardiac arrest at the assisted living facility. Officials now believe she froze to death.

According to Sheriff John Plasse, deputies, Honey Creek Fire Department and Transcare ambulance responded to the healthcare facility, located in southern Vigo County, and found the woman outside of the building and lying unresponsive on the ground in the below -freezing temperatures.

 According to AccuWeather records, Saturday's high temperature in Terre Haute was 33 degrees, with a low of 18 degrees. No further information --- including on how the resident was able to slip out unnoticed from the facility in the middle of the night --- has been released.