Retired Cubs pitcher finds body of man missing from nursing home

Retired Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood doesn’t make the news as often as he once did. Although Wood hasn’t completely left baseball — he currently serves as the Cubs’ spring instructor — his every move is no longer watched by thousands of viewers on national television.

Yet the former pitcher recently made headlines again. The reason, however, has nothing to do with baseball. Wood contacted Illinois authorities after discovered a floating body while paddle boarding in Belmont Harbor. The 911 call made by Mr. Wood around 11:10 a.m. on a recent Monday morning was routed to Area North police detectives.

Although the investigation is still ongoing, police have learned that the body is that of a 40-year-old man who may have been a resident of a North Side nursing home. The home had reported the man as missing. The man apparently had received treatment at a local hospital but failed to return to the home. Hospital staff may have erroneously released the man instead of waiting for an official from the nursing home to pick up the man.

This story is troubling because it suggests that staff officials from the nursing home and/or hospital may have been negligent. It is unclear why the 40-year-old man was confined to nursing home care, or why he had needed hospital attention. Nevertheless, a personal injury attorney might regard the staff at both facilities as owing a duty of care to the man. To the extent that duty was breached, the facilities may face civil liability for their medical negligence or nursing home neglect in the form of a lawsuit brought by the man’s surviving family members.

Source: chicagotribune.com, “Ex-Cub pitcher Kerry Wood discovers body in Belmont Harbor,” Rosemary Regina Sobol, June 25, 2013