Cedar Ridge blamed for resident's head injury

A woman has filed suit against a rehab center where she claims she suffered from a severe head injury.

Kay Burgmann filed suit April 25 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Covenant Care Midwest Inc., doing business as Cedar Ridge Health and Rehab Center in Lebanon, Ashley Huels and Tracie Sullivan.

According to the complaint, Burgmann was living at Covenant Care Midwest on Jan. 13, 2013, when she suffered a severe head injury. Burgmann does not specify how she incurred the head injury, but blames the center for negligently failing to provide adequate and properly supervised care, for failing to protect her from neglect, for failing to provide her with necessary treatment, for failing to ensure that her environment remained free of accident hazards and for failing to provide her with a safe environment.

Because of the incident, Burgmann suffered severe pain, mental anguish, emotional distress and lost her dignity, according to the complaint. She also became further debilitated and disabled and incurred medical costs, the suit states.

Burgmann is seeking a judgment of more than $225,000, plus attorney’s fees and costs. She is being represented by Shaun M. Lieser of Lieser Law Firm in St. Lous and Thomas Q. Keefe Jr. of Keefe and Keefe in Belleville.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 14-L-308.