Officials investigating after three residents at San Mateo facility reportedly ingested liquid given mistakenly by staff

One resident of a California home for senior citizens died and two others were hospitalized after the complex’s staff mistakenly served them dishwashing liquid thinking it was drinking juice over the weekend, according to officials.

Three people living at Atria Park senior living facility in San Mateo, California, just south of San Francisco, had to be taken to a hospital after ingesting the liquid in question on Saturday morning. One of them later died, and the local police, the state department of social services and the facility itself are investigating, Atria Park officials said in a statement provided to media outlets on Monday.

Atria Park’s leaders also said that they quickly suspended the employees determined to have had a hand in serving the dishwasher liquid to the stricken residents while the investigation is pending, but otherwise they would not comment “out of respect for the people involved”.

“The safety and wellbeing of our residents remain our top priorities at all times,” the statement added.

The case highlighted one of the worst outcomes imaginable for the more than 800,000 people residing in licensed assisted living facilities across the US and their loved ones.

Atria Park’s statement did not release any details about the dead or hospitalized residents.

Nonetheless, citing information from her daughter, the San Francisco news outlet Kron-TV identified the dead resident as 93-year-old Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell.

According to the daughter, Marcia Cutchin, Maxwell had dementia and needed help to feed herself.

“Many people like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” Cutchin told Kron-TV.

Maxwell went to the hospital with her mouth, throat and esophagus severely blistered after Atria Park staff served her “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein”, Cutchin said, adding that the complex gave her that information.

Cutchin said Maxwell’s eight children and 20 grandchildren are now in mourning after what has been characterized to them as a deadly mistake by the employees of a complex that attracted the grieving family because of the good reputation it enjoyed.

“That facility was very highly regarded and very expensive,” Cutchin said. “You do those things to ensure that there’s a higher level of care.”