AVONDALE, AZ — Linda Hughes was 75 years old and living in the memory care unit at Silver Birch of Avondale.
As part of her care plan, she was supposed to be monitored by staff, according to an inspection report by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
One staffer told police she usually didn’t go outside, preferring to walk around inside.
But last July, she walked out a door and onto a patio. No one noticed she was gone, according to police and state health department reports.
Police say she was outside for more than an hour in triple-degree heat.
Staff later discovered her unresponsive. A medical examiner ruled she died from heat exposure.
“My thoughts go to her family. It’s tragic that this happens in the care of somebody else,” said Brendon Blake, director of advocacy for AARP Arizona.
He said people with memory concerns, especially dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, can sometimes forget how to open doors.
“They forget where they're going, where they’re coming from,” he said.
In the Arizona summer, the window to find someone is small.
"You really have a very limited amount of time to start a search and find somebody before something devastating can happen,” Black said.
The Arizona Department of Health Services recently fined Silver Birch a total of $2,000. The report said the facility “failed to ensure the health, safety or welfare of a resident” and failed to monitor her whereabouts. ABC15 reached out to Silver Birch for comment but did not hear back.
For the family of a woman who died in someone else’s care, $2,000 in fines may feel small. But the total is larger than what was previously allowed under state law. Until last year, assisted-living facilities could be fined only $500 for similar violations.
Blake said families researching care facilities can check a facility’s safety and health history at AZ Care Check, a state-run website.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
