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Michigan…NOT the state to be in and try to mess with the lives of nursing home residents. And everyone involved gets in trouble, not just the aides.

The state attorney general said Monday eight workers of a Big Rapids nursing home, including a Hart doctor who was the facility’s medical director and a deputy county medical examiner, tried to cover up a death of a 50-year-old woman who died because her oxygen tank wasn’t changed.

When patient Sarah Comer died, eight nursing home workers “went into cover-up mode,” state Attorney General Mike Cox said Monday at a news conference announcing 18 felony counts against the former workers at Metron of Big Rapids.

One of those being charged is Dr. Rudy Ochs of Hart, the nursing home’s director who also served as the Mecosta County deputy medical examiner. It was that role which Cox alleges helped those involved evade immediate detection.

Cox said it was on Ochs’ recommendation that no autopsy be performed on Comer, who was oxygen-dependent and died only 16 hours after being admitted to the care center for rehabilitation of kidney and diabetes complications. Ochs, who runs a family practice with the county’s contracted medical examiner, Dr. Paul Wagner, in Hart, is deputized as a secondary investigator.

“It’s a clear conflict of interest,” Cox said. “(Ochs) used his relationship as deputy medical examiner to influence what was done after death.”

Officials at Metron, headquartered in Cascade Township, said they have cooperated with the investigation.

“The health, safety and security of our residents is of the utmost importance to our management and staff,” a statement released by the company said. “We will continue to provide quality restorative and long-term health care to our residents.”

In all, the center’s former administrator, interim director of nursing, nurses, a nursing assistant and Ochs are charged. The 18 felony and five misdemeanor allegations include involuntary manslaughter, falsifying medical records, tampering with evidence and failing to report patient abuse.

Beside Ochs, those being charged are: Kathleen Rose Johnson, 57, of Big Rapids, a nurse and day-shift supervisor; Cheryl Lynn Williams, 41, currently of Florida, a nurse and midnight-shift supervisor; Tracey Marie Moore, 31, of Luther, a nursing assistant; Sharon Elaine Mumah, 39, of Morley, interim director of nursing; Christine Marie Mondrella, 42, of Paris, the director of nursing; Laura Lynn Ferrara, 41, of Kalamazoo, a nurse and corporate clinical director for Metron in Grand Rapids; and Robert Koch, Jr., 49, of South Carolina, the nursing home administrator.

None of the suspects returned repeated calls seeking comment. Seven of the eight are to be arraigned Friday in Mecosta County District Court, the attorney general’s office said.

Mecosta Administrator Paul Bullock said Wagner offered to talk to county commissioners about Ochs’ role in the allegations. Ochs remains with the county, Bullock said, declining further comment.

Comer’s death initially was investigated by state health officials, who could not prove wrongdoing by her caregivers.

But Cox said he can, based on the strength of information obtained with legal tools not available to health department investigators. The attorney general’s health care unit used search warrants and subpoenas — court orders that require a person to appear and be questioned under oath — to ferret out the circumstances of Comer’s death.

Doctored medical charts initially pushed suspicion aside, Cox said.

“There was tampering (with records) after the death to make it appear she was properly attended to,” Cox said. “No one should check their security or their dignity at the door. A number of staff members didn’t do their job, both in primary care and in supervision.

“This is a horrible case that need not have happened.”