An elderly woman died last week in a detached house in Macon, Georgia. It was only a few days ago that her family or facility staff found out that she had died.
This lady was initially identified as 71-year-old Jewel Pounds Billings by Macon TV station WMAZ-TV. She was found in her unit in Magnolia Manor on August 14.Mark Todd, the president and CEO of the facility, confirmed the identity and age of the deceased Weekly newspaper.
The Macon facilities of Magnolia Manor provide independent living villas and apartments, independent support units and assisted living apartments. The institution is identified on its website as a “faith-based, tax-exempt, non-profit organization associated with the United Methodist South Georgia Conference”, and its history can be traced back to the late 1950s. An estimated 1,500 residents live in Magnolia Manor’s nine locations, with a total of nearly 1,000 employees.
Todd tells Weekly newspaper Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Billings has lived in a separate living unit and rarely sees facility staff.
“We usually see our residents every day, especially during meal times,” Todd said. “We have a central dining area, and everyone eats a meal at noon.”
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The pandemic needs to limit these eating habits and reduce interaction with visitors and staff. “It’s a little out of touch there, in fact we didn’t see her during dinner time,” Todd said.
The facility provides take-out meals for independent residents, but Todd said that Billings’ frequency of finding those prepared meals is “a bit sporadic.”
“She doesn’t always come to pick up meals regularly because they live in an apartment where she can solve all the problems by herself,” he said.
According to Todd, the facility received a call from a family member of the woman on the morning of August 14, stating that they had not heard from her for several days.
“We went to check on her and knocked on the door. She did not answer the door. We let ourselves into the apartment knowing she was dead,” he said.
Todd said the agency called emergency medical personnel, coroners and Billings’ family members to remind them of her death. He said that her family arrived first.
Todd said: “The coroner said she died of natural causes, and she may have been dead for two to three days.” The assistant coroner of Macon-Bibb County confirmed to WMAZ-TV that Billings died on August 11 , Which is three days before she was discovered.
Todd said that Billings’s family was “very dissatisfied” with her facility not being discovered earlier.
“We hope it didn’t happen this way,” Todd said. “We have failed in this regard.”
Todd said he understood the family’s frustration and said that the staff at the facility were also saddened by the death of one of the residents.
“Our employees are very upset. We have lost a person we have been taking care of, so it has not been a good situation,” Todd said.
“We extend our condolences to the family,” he added. “We are very unhappy, and they are very unhappy. We hope things can be different.”
