Harrison nurse Heather Pressdee linked to 15 additional nursing home deaths

Two new counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder were filed Thursday against a Harrison nurse previously charged in killing two patients with lethal doses of insulin.

Attorney General Michelle Henry said Heather Pressdee, 41, is again accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to patients, some who needed it and some who did not.

Pressdee is charged in connection with 17 total deaths at five nursing homes. She already was charged with two of the deaths at a nursing home in Chicora, Butler County. She was charged Thursday in connection with 15 more deaths at four other area nursing homes.

Additionally, three of the patients investigators said Pressdee admitted to harming survived the incidents.

The victims ranged in age from 43 to 104.

Pressdee admitted to harming, with the intent to kill, all patients related to Thursday’s charges, investigators said.

Pressdee admitted to flushing a patient’s port in order to cause an embolism and pushing a syringe of air into a patient’s intravenous catheter to lead to his death, according to a criminal complaint.

In one instance, Pressdee told police that she knew a 99-year-old woman was dead but left the room and let an aide find her about 30 minutes later. Pressdee then assisted while CPR was performed on the patient, the complaint said.

Most of the deaths were caused by insulin overdose. Among the search histories police found on Pressdee’s phone were “Lispro insulin,” “ICD 10 for diabetes” and “How long is insulin good for?” investigators said.

Co-workers at several facilities told investigators that Pressdee would “religiously say that residents just need to die.” They started to notice patients whom Pressdee had access to were dying unexpectedly, the complaint said.

Under Pressdee’s care, patients foamed at the mouth — something co-workers told police they had never seen before.

She is charged with first-degree murder in the cases where physical evidence is available to support the cause of death.

Attempted murder is charged in the cases where the victims either survived the excessive doses or the physical evidence no longer exists to support a first degree murder charge.

The alleged incidents happened while Pressdee worked as a registered nurse at Concordia at Rebecca Residence in West Deer; Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian) in Lower Burrell; Quality Life Services – Chicora; Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Kittanning; and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Butler.

Agents: Mistreatment known or suspected

According to the criminal complaint, administrators and staff at the five nursing homes knew or suspected Pressdee of mistreatment of patients. Investigators said there is a pattern of Pressdee being investigated for abusive behavior toward patients and/or staff at each facility, resulting in Pressdee resigning or being fired.

A hospital doctor in 2022 made a referral to the state Department of Health about his concerns that Pressdee was harming patients, the complaint said.

Pressdee is accused of administering the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not prompt immediate hospitalization.

Related:

• Lawsuit claims nurse killed 3rd victim with insulin

• Harrison nurse charged in deaths of 2 patients

• State suspends license of nurse accused of killing care home patients

She was arraigned Thursday by Judge Maura Palumbi and waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

Pressdee remains in the Butler County jail without bail.

Brett Hambright of the state Attorney General’s Office said he could not speculate at this point whether more charges could be coming.

In May, Pressdee was charged with killing two nursing home patients in Butler County by overdosing them with insulin. Authorities said she administered insulin to two patients who were not diabetic and one to a noninsulin-dependent diabetic at the Quality Life Services nursing facility in Chicora, Butler County.

Pressdee also was accused of causing a third such death at a Lower Burrell health care facility where she was a supervisor.

That claim is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed Oct. 3 against Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center that accuses Pressdee of killing Marianne Bower, a 68-year-old Belair resident with multiple sclerosis, by administering a lethal dose of insulin — and then sending a sympathy card and gift to the family.

Lawyer Robert Peirce III sued the nursing home in the name of one of Bower’s sons, Scott Hess of Buffalo Township, alleging that it botched her background check and refused to pay heed to concerns raised by Pressdee’s co-workers.

Peirce said the family was notified by the Attorney General’s Office that new charges were imminent.

“The family has asked me to express that while their worst fears have been proven to be true, they think this is one step toward justice,” Peirce said.

The family wanted to file the lawsuit because they were sickened to learn that Pressdee worked at multiple facilities before she was hired at Belair, Peirce said.

“The purpose of this lawsuit was to put employers on notice that they have to do proper background checks, they have to listen to complaints by employees, and they have to listen and not take lightly complaints of egregious behavior such as this,” Peirce said.

Pressdee worked in 11 Western Pennsylvania medical facilities since 2018.

“The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing,” Henry said. “It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.

“The damage done to the victims and their loved ones cannot be overstated. Every person in a medical or care facility should feel safe and cared for, and my office will work tirelessly to hold the defendant accountable for her crimes and protect care-dependent Pennsylvanians from future harm.”

Staff writer Jonathan D. Silver contributed to this report.

Long-term trouble at nursing homes:

• Staffing shortages leave nursing homes overwhelmed, patients vulnerable, experts say
• Some fear patient care threatened as staffing shortages plague nursing homes
• Nursing home rating system criticized over reliability, accuracy
• List of nursing homes cited for abuse can be incomplete, arbitrary, experts say