After a trial that lasted nearly two weeks in front of Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Jr., jurors found that workers at Heartland of Charleston, located at 3819 Chesterfield Ave., failed to feed and care for Dorothy Douglas, who stayed at the home for about three weeks in 2009 before dying at age 87. Lawyers for Douglas' son say she died of complications from dehydration.

After closing arguments Friday morning, jurors deliberated for about two hours before returning their verdict and awarding $80 million in punitive damages and $11.5 million in compensatory damages.

In September 2009, Tom Douglas took his mother to Heartland of Charleston while waiting for space to open in another nursing home. Dorothy Douglas suffered from Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's disease and several other conditions, Douglas' lawyers, Lance Reins and Amy Quezan, told the jury during the trial.

They said that while living with her son, Dorothy Douglas' health had improved to the point where she could walk, speak and recognize family members.

After checking his mother into Heartland, Tom Douglas said, he discovered that the staffers had labeled her a fall risk and confined her to a wheelchair.

By the time she was transferred to the Heritage Center nursing home in Huntington three weeks later, she was unresponsive, she had lost 15 pounds and severe dehydration had driven her to the brink of death, Douglas' lawyers said.

She died at Hospice of Huntington on Oct. 11.

Reins told jurors during closing arguments Friday that Heartland did not have enough nurses on staff to care for the woman. Several former Heartland workers testified during the trial that properly caring for all of the residents was impossible.

In 2009, the nursing home reported an employee turnover rate of 112 percent, according to Reins.

"They were losing more people because they weren't even staying through orientation when they saw the conditions," he told the jury.

Reins and Quezan said during the trial that the nursing home's business model revolved around keeping the number of residents high, and the number of staff to care for them low.

Heartland of Charleston is owned by corporations that control hundreds of nursing homes across the country. In 2009, ManorCare Inc, the parent company named in the lawsuit, reported earnings of about $4 billion and assets of nearly $8 billion, according to Reins.

Charlie Johns, a lawyer for ManorCare, said Heartland nurses did all they could to care for Dorothy Douglas, and pointed out the woman's death certificate states that she died of Alzheimer's, not dehydration.

The home budgets its nurses to spend about 3.14 hours caring for each of its patients daily, Johns said, which is significantly higher than the state's mandated 2.25 hours per day.

Johns questioned the credibility of the former employees who took the stand, and accused them of being "deep-pocket witnesses." Douglas' lawyers apparently paid the nurses to take the stand.

"There's a reason they're former employees," Johns said, adding that at least one of the employees was fired over an incident that involved stolen medication.

For about 22 1/2 hours after Douglas had been transferred to the Heritage Center in Huntington, the woman had not received any food or drink, Johns said. He also pointed to records that showed that Douglas' meal consumption averaged about the same at Heartland as it did at hospitals she stayed at previously.

"They're critical of us for it," Johns said, "but not [other facilities]."

ManorCare owns seven Heartland-brand nursing homes in West Virginia. According to Medicaid reports, one of those seven ranks above average in overall care. Heartland of Charleston, Heartland of Beckley, Heartland of Rainelle, Heartland of Keyser, and Heartland of Martinsburg, each received one out of a possible five stars in overall care.

From February 2010 to April 2011, state inspectors cited the Charleston home for 28 deficiencies -- more than double the state's average of 13.

Reach Zac Taylor at zachary.tay...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.