SALYERSVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — A 2025 Department of Health and Human Services inspection reveals serious failures at Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, including immediate jeopardy violations and nearly $450,000 in fines.
Now, a Magoffin County family is suing Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, alleging that neglect led to the death of 81-year-old Ruth Reed, a retired Johnson County school cook who entered the facility to recover from back surgery in October 2024.
Reed had been living independently before a fall and subsequent surgery left her needing rehabilitation care. Her family says she entered the Salyersville facility with Medicare covering her stay, with the goal of returning home.
"She's going to need assistance, turning and re-positioning in her bed, and therapy care. So, daily therapy care to try to get her back on her feet, and then discharge her back to her home. That was the plan. We're gonna discharge Ruth back to her home," attorney Laraclay Parker said.
Parker alleges that care never occurred and that Reed was grossly neglected.
A federal inspection report shows that just a month after arriving, Reed called 911 for uncontrollable pain — despite a nurse recording "no pain." Once at the hospital, the incision from Reed's back surgery had deteriorated into a gaping wound measuring 10.5 inches long. According to the report, the open wound exposed hardware and emitted a foul-smelling odor.
Reed was admitted to hospice for pain control and died on November 22, 2024.
"The first time I saw the photos, I was horrified, disgusted, and then really, really sad because I think the photos are evidence of a greater problem we have here in Kentucky, and often we don't have photos of neglect," Parker said.
The lawsuit claims negligence and wrongful death, naming the facility and out-of-state investors. LEX 18 visited the facility in Salyersville but an administrator declined to comment.
As shown in the Health and Human Services inspection, Reed was not the only patient to suffer at the facility. The inspection completed in May 2025 cited the facility for immediate jeopardy violations — the most serious category of nursing home deficiency — resulting in two federal fines totaling nearly $450,000.
The facility's last survey inspection before that had been conducted in 2021, meaning four years passed before officials returned to check for deficiencies and order corrections.
Parker pointed to the financial structure of the facility as a contributing factor.
"They don't have the resources, time, or money that they need to care for our elderly, and the reason they don't have that money is because it's being diverted out of state," Parker said, referencing the out of state investors.
Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center remains open and operating. The lawsuit is in its early stages. Reed's family says their goal is accountability and prevention.
"To ensure that this does not happen to anyone else in their community and to ensure that if we're going to allow these out of state actors, out of state companies to run nursing homes in Kentucky, that they do so responsibly. That would be justice," Parker said.
