CANTON – Pauline Briggs lived with chronic leg wounds for years, relying on long-term care to keep her comfortable.
Staff at the House of Loreto, run by the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, helped manage her care. She had been a resident at 2812 Harvard Ave. NW since 2018.
But after new owners took over in March 2025, her son Jack Briggs said things changed. Activities were cut. Familiar staff began to leave. He noticed a change in quality of care.
By the time the state stepped in to shut down the facility in January, Pauline’s wounds — once carefully managed — became infected.
“She was in excruciating pain,” Jack said. “I had never seen her hurt that bad.”
Pauline was admitted to the hospital after House of Loreto closed, where Jack said staff found three different types of infectious bacteria. She was treated, stabilized and moved to a different long-term care facility.
Pauline’s general health deteriorated over the next few months. She began hospice care and died April 30.
Now, her 66-year-old son is searching for accountability and answers regarding his mother’s final months at the House of Loreto.
He can’t help but wonder if her last days would have been different, more positive, if it weren’t for the House of Loreto’s ownership change.
Jack is the lead plaintiff in a potential class-action lawsuit against Hari Group LLC.
The class-action complaint, filed July 17, alleges that despite an increase in fees, residents were subject to facility-wide staffing and care deficiencies.
Jack said he wants to learn what really happened behind closed doors, if the downfall of the once beloved nursing home was malicious or if it were a direct result of inexperienced ownership.
The defendants Parth and Bharat Thakkar could not be reached for comment. Their attorneys, in a separate state lawsuit, also did not respond to requests for comment.
What else changed for the Briggs?
Pauline wasn’t the only family member at House of Loreto. Her husband, Jack J. Briggs, lived alongside her for about two years before dying in 2023. Her sister was also at the nursing home when it closed earlier this year.
Pauline’s son said he was nervous about the change when Hari Group took over in 2025. He met with Parth Thakkar, son of owner Bharat Thakkar. Parth discussed his plans for the facility and promised enhanced care.
“After that meeting, I was comfortable enough to agree to keep her there,” Jack said.
Then, there was a shift. The facility’s annual Easter dinner, hosted by the nuns, was canceled. Jack said he was once welcome to eat meals with his mother. He would reserve a spot. Staff would set him a place. After the sale, however, Jack was asked not to go into the dining room.
Consistent staffing turned into irregular agency staff. Residents’ favorite activities disappeared — less bingo, arts and crafts, and music. He noticed other families began installing cameras in rooms to monitor care.
“It was evident that all the changes that were promised to make the place better, a lot of those changes that took effect were making the place worse,” he said.
But Jack didn’t have time to focus on those things too much.
“I really wasn’t concerned about that particular aspect of it because I was … more concerned about my mom’s care with her legs. That was the main thing that was really consuming my time and worries,” he said.
Jack took his mother to weekly wound-care appointments off-campus. The staff at House of Loreto tended to her wounds between appointments, but he worried under new ownership, they weren’t following instructions provided by the doctor.
“The wounds looked atrocious,” he said.
He started documenting her legs by taking pictures. He asked staff to sign and date her wraps.
“She was lucky enough to have a wound care doctor prescribing the exact things that she needed,” said Dr. Allison Kreiner, a medical analyst for Plakas Mannos, the law firm that filed the lawsuit. “If they weren’t following the specific protocol, the wounds would get worse.”
Jack said the problems were largely tied to staffing shortages. He recalled asking a nurse, “Should I be concerned with my mother’s safety at this point?”
The motivation behind a class-action lawsuit
Class-action suits open courthouse doors to individuals who wouldn’t have access otherwise due to financial reasons or timing, attorney Lee Plakas said. There is no financial obligation in a class-action, unless there is a positive result.
“A successful lawsuit sends a message that demands change, not only with the individual defendants involved in a case like this, but also sends a message to an entire industry, that this is not acceptable,” Plakas said.
Attorney Garrett Loyd said pursuing a class-action case makes sense with House of Loreto because of the impacted demographic.
“This population is elderly for the most part, and maybe medically fragile, cognitively impaired,” Loyd said. “A number of them are deceased. … It makes it very hard for patients in their circumstances to seek justice in the absence of a class action.”
Key allegations of the lawsuit include the following:
Although Hari Group publicly promised to preserve the facility’s legacy, the complaint alleges the new owners failed to do so.
The filing alleges breach of contract, consumer-protection violations and violations of Ohio nursing home patients’ bill of rights.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $25,000, plus punitive damages, attorney fees, and other relief the court deems appropriate.
In a way, Jack said, the filing is a moral obligation. He hopes to discover the truth and better understand what happened to his family and to other residents.
“They should be held accountable, not only for themselves making that decision, but for anybody in the future that gets into this business. … They’ve got consequences if they decide to go down that road,” he said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through down there. … It breaks my heart to this day.”
Contact Abreanna Blose by email at ablose@usatodayco.com or by phone at 330-580-8513.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: One son’s search for answers persists after House of Loreto shutdown | Exclusive
Reporting by Abreanna Blose, Canton Repository / The Repository
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By Abreanna Blose, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
