Former Gallatin nursing home administrator testifies in wrongful death case

Day nine of the wrongful death lawsuit in Gallatin brought tense and contentious moments in the courtroom. The former administrator of the facility, Dawn Cochran, at times became combative with the plaintiff's attorneys.

Cochran insisted, multiple times, that they did nothing wrong. "I did the best I could do under the circumstances of the pandemic," Cochran testified. "My staff would never put a resident at risk. They loved the residents. It was all of our family."

But that's not how the family of Ruth Summers feels. They decided to sue the Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing, saying their negligence led to the 89-year-old's death from COVID-19. Cochran insisted, despite testimony from two former nurses in the facility, that the nursing home didn't require sick employees to still come in and work their shifts. "I think in the complaint you stated we made, Gallatin Center, made employees work sick and that is just not the case," said Cochran.

"Well there’s testimony in the record that there is, Ms. Cochran, and I know you don’t like it but it is what it is. My question though, according to this day on this time under these circumstances, Nurse Long is working sick isn’t she?" asked attorney Clint Kelly, who represents Summer's daughter in the lawsuit.

"I can’t answer that question," Cochran replied.

Another point of contention came when Kelly asked about mandatory masking. Gallatin Center didn't require their staff to wear masks until the first staff member tested positive for COVID-19, which was around the same time Ruth Summers also contracted COVID-19. "I was relying on physicians in my community where the facility is," said Cochran. "I got guidance from the health department, as well as a contract tracer. As well as the Governor’s office. As well as Homeland Security. You want me to go on?"

When Kelly reminded Cochran that he had called a witness earlier in the trial that insisted that masks for infectious respiratory diseases were a baseline for the "standard of care" the center needed to provide, Cochran said that's just what his witness believed.

Thursday, that was the only witness the jury heard from. Court proceedings ended early so Judge Joe Thompson could consider his ruling on whether or not an expert for the Gallatin Center could testify as an expert witness. Judge Thompson promised a ruling would come on that decision tomorrow morning.

Attorneys for the nursing home still plan to call two witnesses before they rest their case. That means, more likely than not, the trial will extend into a third week. Judge Thompson asked the jury to prepare to come in next Monday.

You can watch the trial in real-time on all of NewsChannel 5's streaming platforms.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.

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