Nurse testifies that nursing home forced her to work sick during COVID

Only one witness took the stand Thursday in the wrongful death lawsuit involving a Gallatin nursing home.

Ruth Summers was an 89-year-old resident at the Gallatin-based nursing home. Her family is now suing that facility, saying in March 2020, she got COVID there and later died because of their negligence.

Kay Holmes worked there as an agency staffing nurse during Summer's infection. She told jurors about a day when she woke up feeling incredibly sick. She claims a supervisor still required her to come in and work her shift. "She gets on the phone, I need you to go to work. I don’t have anybody to take your spot. I’m sorry, what? I’m sick. I need you to go to work, I don’t have anybody to take your spot," testified Holmes. "I said can I have a mask? I said because I don’t know what this is. She said no -- we’re not wearing masks in here, we’re not scaring these people like that."

Later, attorneys for the nursing home asked her why she didn't just ignore the supervisor. "That was wrong of me. I probably should have just walked out the door. Don’t think I don’t have a lot of guilt over that y’all, because it’s there," Holmes said.

Holmes contended she also just wanted to keep her job.

Andrew Sheely, an attorney for the nursing home, also tried to poke holes in Holmes' credibility. Sheely reminded the jury that Nurse Holmes was hired by the family's attorney, the Kelly Firm, shortly after the lawsuit was first filed, to look over documents for the case. Sheely then pointed out that Holmes picked up shifts in the Gallatin Nursing home around the time she was hired on by the Kelly Firm.

"You don’t see it as a problem working in the facility, not disclosing that you’re working on a team that is prosecuting a lawsuit against the facility that you’re working in? You don’t see that as a problem?" asked Sheely.

"I could see how others could see that as a problem but I don’t have a problem with that," Holmes said.

Friday, the plaintiffs plan to call Debbie Bolton, the daughter of Ruth Summers, to testify.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at chris.davis@newschannel5.com.

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