CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – An Iowa nursing home resident died last month after being catapulted out of her wheelchair while riding in one of the facility’s vans with no seatbelt in place.
State inspection records indicate Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids failed to provide a resident in a wheelchair with a lap-and-shoulder seatbelt before attempting to drive her from a cardiology appointment back to Cottage Grove Place on April 2, 2026.
While the resident’s wheelchair was securely locked in place in the back of the van, the resident was not buckled into the chair, inspectors concluded. As a result, the inspectors reported, the woman “flew forward out of the wheelchair and over a folded middle-row seat” when the driver of the van swerved and braked to avoid a collision with another vehicle…