Disabled Grandma Gets Settlement
Author: BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLEDate: Jun 3, 2008
ATTLEBORO - A dozen years ago, a stroke turned Attleboro resident Cathy Hutchinson into a quadriplegic. But a lawsuit she filed continues to make strides for herself and other brain injury patients.
Hutchinson, 55 and a grandmother, was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit seeking benefits that would help her and others like her move out of nursing homes and into community residences where they could live richer, happier lives.
Lawyers for Hutchinson and about 2,000 handicapped patients and state officials initialed a settlement Monday that would allow brain injury victims to move into less restrictive environments.
For some, the settlement could mean a return to their private homes. For others, it could be an opportunity to live in group residences such as assisted living facilities.
The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit, Hutchinson v. Patrick, which was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Springfield on behalf of five individuals, the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) and the Stavros Center for Independent Living.
The complaint charged that the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for failing to provide adequate community services. "This is a historic moment for persons with brain injuries in Massachusetts, many of whom have been unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities, often for decades," said Steven J. Schwartz of the Center for Public Representation, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. "As a result of the settlement, close to 2,000 persons with brain injuries finally will be able to live in integrated settings, nearer to their families and their home communities."
Approximately 8,000 people with brain injuries currently reside in nursing and rehabilitative facilities in Massachusetts. At least a quarter of them could successfully transition to community settings if services were available, according to plaintiffs' co-counsel, Richard Johnston, a partner at Wilmer Hale Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
"Today's agreement is a first in the nation for people with brain injuries and will serve as a model for other states," said Arlene Korab, executive director of the brain injury association.
The settlement applies to Medicaid eligible patients with two kinds of brain injuries.
Under the settlement agreement, which is still subject to court approval, the state will create two new waiver programs designed to transition people with brain injuries from nursing facilities and other institutions to community residences.
The programs must be approved by the federal government, which will pay half the cost of both programs.
Patients and their families would be supplied with personal care attendants, if needed, and their homes made accessible for handicapped family members, Korab said.
The settlement is designed to be "cost neutral," she said, meaning the remedy sought by Hutchinson and the other plaintiffs should not exceed the amount the state is currently paying for nursing homes.
For Hutchinson, who suffered a devastating stroke while gardening at her home, the settlement means the chance to eventually leave an institutional setting in which she has lived for the past decade. She recently moved to the Boston Home, a specialized care facility in Dorchester. However, she eventually hopes to move either back to her home in Attleboro or to a community residence according to her friend and guardian Sandy Julien.
The agreement also requires the state to create a new system of community services for persons with brain injuries, including new policies and procedures.
When the lawsuit was filed May 17, 2007, Hutchinson described her decade-long institutionalization as being "in prison for a crime I didn't commit."
In a written statement, she added, "We must find a way to allow people like me to live as independently as possible. I should not have to fight the system when each day I must already fight to communicate, to be understood, make choices and express my feelings."
The settlement agreement will provide transitional and community services to Hutchinson, the other named plaintiffs and all class members.
"For them, the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act will become a reality," Schwartz said.
A preliminary hearing on the settlement agreement will be scheduled for mid-June before U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor in Springfield. Ponsor has been asked to set a final fairness hearing on the agreement for July 25.
RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0360 or at rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.
