HISPI Project Cerebellum HISPI PROJECT CEREBELLUM

Algorithmic Staffing Failures Linked to Resident Deaths at Leading Assisted-Living Chain Brookdale

April 21, 2021

The algorithm-based staffing system, 'Service Alignment', used by Brookdale Senior Living, has reportedly left facilities understaffed, leading to critical incidents. For example, on April 21, 2021, Louise Walker, a resident at Brookdale's Jacksonville facility, died after falling and being left unattended for over two hours. State investigators cited Brookdale for medical neglect. The algorithm has been linked to multiple incidents of neglect, injuries, and deaths, prompting lawsuits. This underscores the importance of responsible AI governance in preventing such harm. Join us at HISPI Project Cerebellum to help shape trustworthy AI practices.

Brookdale's case highlights the need for robust guardrails and oversight in AI systems that affect human lives directly. Through the HISPI Project Cerebellum TAIM (Govern), we can work together to ensure safe and secure AI practices. Get involved today by visiting JOIN US.

Matched TAIM controls

Suggested mapping from embedding similarity (not a formal assessment). Browse all TAIM controls

Alleged deployer
brookdale-senior-living
Alleged developer
brookdale-senior-living
Alleged harmed parties
louise-walker, residents-of-brookdale-facilities, families-of-residents-of-brookdale-facilities, staff-members-of-brookdale-facilities

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/716

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.