THOMASVILLE, N.C. — We’re learning more about the Triad nursing home at the center of an SBI investigation.
Police said just three staffers were taking care of the 98 residents at Pine Ridge nursing home in Thomasville.
Officers found two dead and two others in critical condition. One of them is expected to leave the hospital soon. The other will need more time; 85-year-old Shirley Smith is at Novant Health Medical Center in Thomasville.
WFMY News 2 spoke to her daughter Dana Barker.
“I told her tonight that I loved her. She told me back that she loved me back. And I told her to have a good night’s sleep,” Barker said.
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“I didn’t think she was going to pull through. Brought joy to my heart. And I hope it continues. I’ve been praying every day, every morning, every night. And I’ll continue praying that she pulls completely through,” she continued.
Smith is off the ventilator and breathing on her own. Her daughter said she was only at Pine Ridge for about a month. She believes the facility wasn’t giving her mother the care she needed.
“I was always there every single night. And it was horrible. The care was awful. Not getting her meds. Not getting changed. Food all over the floor, sitting in a wheelchair, falling about, falling out of the wheelchair,” Barker said.
Barker said they will move her mom to a new facility when she recovers.
On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper shared comments on the Pine Ridge investigation during a public briefing.
“This is deeply troubling. We must make sure that we’re looking after people in these kinds of facilities and the matter should be fully investigated and that’s what I expect to happen,” Cooper said.