Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Department of Public Health says that the La Salle County Nursing Home’s inability to protect female residents from sexual abuse allowed one male resident to molest 10 patients. All of the nursing home sexual abuse incidents occurred within the last six months. On June 4, the IDPH designated the long-term care facility as a nursing home in “Immediate Jeopardy” since December 24, 2008, when the nursing home failed to immediately investigate claims that a male resident was engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct.

As a result of the nursing home’s failure to act immediately, IDPH says the male resident was able to sexually abuse female residents that were suffering from dementia.

Inappropriate sexual conduct the male resident is accused of include:

• Trying to persuade female residents to come to his room.
• Kissing female residents.
• Trying to “handle” female patients.
• Propositioning residents to engage in sexual relations with him.
• Inappropriately touching patients under their clothes.
• Fondling patients.
• Exposing his genitalia to residents.

The male resident was removed from La Salle County Nursing Home last month and he was transferred to a psychiatric facility.

It is hard enough for any woman to fend of inappropriate sexual advances from an male assailant. Patients suffering from dementia are admitted to Illinois nursing homes because they need help taking care of themselves. Nursing home workers are not only charged with these patients’ daily care, but they must make sure that they are protected from any inappropriate sexual misconduct—including sexual advances from nursing home workers or other residents.

Failure by a nursing home to prevent sexual abuse or investigate sexual abuse allegations, which can lead to more residents’ becoming the victim of abuse, can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit.

IDPH: Ten residents sexually abused at La Salle County Nursing Home, NewsTribune.com, July 2, 2009

Read the Report (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

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A jury has awarded a former nursing home patient almost $1.34 million for the reckless abuse and neglect that she suffered while staying at a residential care facility. In the case against Leisure Palms, Elaine Stinson was awarded $500,000 for general damages, $88,000 for past medical expenses, and $750,000 for punitive damages. An additional $400,000 is likely once a post-judgment motion for expert fees, attorneys, and costs are added.

The nursing home abuse case involves Stinson, who began staying at the assisted living facility in October 2006. She was 82 at the time and recovering from hip surgery. She has Alzheimer’s and needed constant supervision because she was a fall and wander risk. Her medication needed to be strictly managed.

Yet by the end of December 2006, Stinson had fallen three times. After falling on December 31, 2006, she sustained a head contusion, a punctured lung, and three broken bones. The nursing home, however, waited to contact a doctor or family members.

When Stinson’s husband Alvin arrived the next morning, she was nonresponsive. He called 911 and she was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery. She made a full recovery, although at first doctors thought she wouldn’t survive.

Alvin died two weeks after Stinson was discharged in October 2007. Before his death, he filed a complaint with the Department of Social Services about the way the nursing home neglected his wife. The long-term care facility was cited for unsafe practices. Stinson sued for nursing home neglect in January 2008.

The defendants have always maintained that they did nothing wrong. They even accused Alvin of causing injury to his wife.

Fall Accidents
As our Chicago nursing home abuse law firm has discussed in the past, fall accidents can be catastrophic for elderly residents. They can sustain serious injuries by simply tripping and falling onto the ground or falling while getting out of bed.

Nursing homes know that many elderly and sick residents must be closely supervised so that they don’t fall. Inadequate resident supervision and failure to implement or follow a care plan are just two reasons why a Chicago nursing home might be found liable for Illinois nursing home negligence if a patient gets hurt.

Vista Jury Awards a Groundbreaking Verdict in Elder Abuse/Neglect Case, Topix, June 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Preventing Falls Among Older Adults, CDC

Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions, APA Online

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Police have charged a certified nursing assistant with six counts of third-degree assault. Mark A. Genetiano, 24, worked at the Hiolani Care Center where the three victims live. He was fired from the nursing home on the day of his arrest.

One victim is 89 and the other two women are 92. All of them have dementia. Police say the sexual assaults took place over a one-month period, between May 1 and June 1, and witnesses reportedly saw the assault incidents happen.

A court document states that on May 29, a co-worker saw the 24-year-old hold down a resident’s arms while he pinched her bare left nipple. The co-worker and Genetiano were changing the patient at the time. The victim reportedly yelled at him to leave her alone and “stop” while he laughed at her.

Genetiano is accused of fondling the other residents. The Star Bulletin reports that Genetiano has admitted to pinching one resident because she hit his head and he wanted to hurt her in return.

Nursing Home Negligence
Nursing homes have a responsibility to make sure that there is adequate security on the premise so that patients do not become the victims of sexual assault or physical abuse. This means that they need to screen nursing home workers to make sure they don't have criminal records while maintaining an environment that doesn't make it easy for anyone—not just a nursing home worker—to assault anyone.

Just this week, a man was arrested for allegedly raping a female patient. The incident occurred at the Bradford Square Rehabilitation And Nursing Center. Harrison Blankenship was charged with first degree sexual abuse.

A nursing home worker reportedly walked in on Blankenship having sex with the resident. Blankenship denies the allegations.

The 84-year-old is a registered sex offender. He raped a 13-year-old girl in 1995.

Ex-nursing aide allegedly pinched, fondled 3 patients, Star Bulletin, June 20, 2009

Man Arrested In Nursing Home Abuse Case, WTVQ, June 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Elder Abuse, Helpguide.org

Nursing Homes in Illinois

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The friend of a now deceased nursing home resident is suing Calvin Johnson Care Center. Dora Haskins-Bond was a resident at the Belleville facility.

According to James E. Golliday’s civil complaint, which alleges nursing home neglect, Haskins-Bond was injured in a number of fall accidents while staying at the long-term care facility. In one incident, she fractured her right knees and left femur.

Despite knowing that Haskins-Bond was at risk of falling, Golliday contends that the nursing home and its owners neglected to properly monitor her so she wouldn’t fall, did not provide the proper resources to protect her from such accidents, and committed other breaches of duty.

As a result of her fall injuries, Golliday claims that Haskins-Bond experienced substantial physical and mental pain and suffering, became disabled and disfigured, and her pre-existing health conditions suffered. She also incurred medical expenses and her ability to enjoy life suffered.

Golliday is asking for legal fees, over $400,00 in damages, and other relief. Also defendants in the lawsuit are Steven Wolf, the administrative manager of Eldercare Inc., and Prudence Wolf, who has an ownership stake in the company.

Facts About Older Adults and Fall Accidents (CDC Web site):
• Each year, over 1/3rd of adults age 65 and are involved in fall accidents.
• For older adults, the number one cause of injury deaths is falls.
• 15,800 seniors died because they were involved in fall accidents in 2005.
• That same year, 1.8 million seniors went to hospital emergency rooms because they fell and sustained nonfatal injuries.
• Over 433,000 of these people were hospitalized for their fall injuries.
• The majority of fractures sustained by elderly people occur during fall accidents.
• Fractures from fall accidents usually occur on the hip, leg, forearm, spine, ankle, hand, and upper arm.

Man sues over friend's nursing home falls, The Record, June 13, 2009

Falls Among Older Adults: An Overview, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Related Web Resources:
Falls in the Elderly, PubMedCentral.NIH.gov

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Although the Regal Health and Rehab Center, an Oak Lawn nursing home, is now in compliance with state regulations after remedying a number of complaints, the Illinois Department of Public Health is still considering closing down the long-term care facility. The Oak Lawn nursing home may have made its corrections, but department spokesperson says that these changes were not made soon enough or to the extend that they should have been made. Therefore, the state still believes it has grounds to revoke the long-term care facility’s license.

Just this month, Regal was cited for ceilings that had water damage, dirty appliances and water fountains, floors with rodent droppings, employees that smoked in the building, and employees that washed their hands in a sink that had food in it. In April, a nursing home resident sustained fatal burn injuries after lighting up a cigarette and smoking it while connected to an oxygen machine. A fire broke out, causing the nursing home resident’s injuries. The state Public Health Department fined Regal $10,000 in 2004 for neglecting to investigate an allegation that someone had been sexually assaulted.

The Oak Lawn nursing home currently houses 83 Illinois nursing home patients. The state says it continues to worry over the quality of care that Regal provides its residents.

Illinois Nursing Home Negligence
It can be detrimental to the health of sick or elderly residents at an Illinois nursing home to live in unsanitary conditions. A resident with a weakened immune system may contract a disease or an infection if he or she is made to live in a dirty or unhygienic environment.

Illinois nursing homes are responsible for making sure that residents live in a clean and sanitary environment. Long-term care facilities can be held liable for Illinois nursing home negligence if a patient gets sick or dies because the kitchen or bathrooms were dirty, the bed sheets weren't washed, or the dishes were not cleaned properly.

May Shut Down Nursing Home, SWNewsHerald, June 19, 2009
State wants Oak Lawn nursing home closed, Sun-Times News Group, June 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Hospital Infections Often Result From Poor Hygiene, Lead To Increased Costs, Studies Find, Medical News Today, November 23, 2006

National Nursing Home Watch List, Memberofthefamily.net

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A Harvard, Illinois woman is suing a Chicago nursing home for her mother’s wrongful death. Jennifer Bowden says Sacred Heart Home was negligent for failing to prevent her mother’s fatal fall accident.

Kathleen Koch, 61, fell in a stairwell at the long-term care facility. The nursing home accident caused her to break her back, sustain head injuries, and become paralyzed. She died eight months after the fall accident.

Bowden’s Chicago nursing home negligence lawsuit contends that workers should have better supervised her mother, who was suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Even though the Chicago nursing home knew that Koch was mentally ill, her room was not located close to a nurse’s station and the elderly woman managed to go into the stairwell without supervision.

Chicago nursing home workers are obligated to properly supervise their residents. Some patients may require more supervision than others, and it is up to the nursing home to find out about each resident’s condition and determine how much care and attention he or she needs to stay safe. Some residents may be prone to fall accidents, wandering off the premise, or becoming disoriented, and they may need help getting around. Failure to provide the proper supervision can lead to injury accidents.

The nursing home must also properly supervise workers to make sure that they do their jobs correctly and that they do not abuse or neglect their patients. Otherwise, inadequate supervision of nursing workers could lead to personal injuries or the deterioration of a resident’s health.

According to Medicaid’s Nursing Home Compare ratings, the Sacred Heart Nursing Home received an overall 3 out of 5 stars, which is considered “Average.” The 172-bed Chicago nursing home received 3 out of 5 stars for Health Inspections, 5 stars for Quality Measures, and 1 star for Nursing Home Staffing.

Woman sues nursing home, Northwest Herald, June 12, 2009

Sacred Heart Home, Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

Related Web Resources:
Falls in Nursing Homes, CDC

Sacred Heart Home, Chicago, Illinois, Hospital-Data.com

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State regulators are fining the Azalea Court nursing home $16,000 because a patient that was discovered on the floor who was injured had maggots in his leg cast. The fine against the US nursing home was issued in March.

According to the state inspection report from August 2008, the nursing home neglected to develop a comprehensive care plan for the resident to deal with his broken leg. Although the leg wound and cast should have been tended to every few days, documentation provided by the long-term care facility noted that the patient’s leg was taken care of just once a week. As a result, the patient’s leg became infested with maggots.

State regulators also placed the nursing home on its “watch list” because of its poor performance results during recent inspections. It received one out of five stars for its total inspection grade. In April 2008, Azalea Court received a “J” grade, which meant that nursing home residents’ safety and health were in “immediate jeopardy” from possible mistreatment and abuse.

Azalea says it is working hard to improve the care that it provides residents. The nursing home maintains that quality care is the nursing home’s primary priority.

Maggots that are found in a nursing home patient’s wound can be a sign that workers at the facility have neglected to provide the resident with the proper care needed to treat the injury. Nursing neglect lawsuits have been filed for this very reason.

Earlier this year, the family of a 95-year-old nursing home resident sued Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation for nursing home neglect. Their complaint accuses the long-term care facility of causing Lucy Hale to suffer from malnutrition, poor hygiene, weight loss, dehydration, and bedsores with maggot infestation.

In 2008, the daughter of a nursing home patient whose bedsore was ignored for so long that it developed gangrene and became infested with maggots sued Parkwood Place nursing home for nursing home neglect. Her father, Haviland Mekeel, had to have his foot amputated and he died soon after.

Maggots infest West Palm Beach nursing home resident, Palm Beach Post, June 3, 2009

Maggots In Elderly Woman's Bedsore Trigger Lawsuit, WSBT, March 15, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

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A second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Angel Arms Family Group Home related to the deaths last June of two men that were staying at the care facility. The two men that died were 42-year-old Thomas Calhoun and his roommate John Jones, 79.

The plaintiffs contend that both men, who were roommates and suffering from mental illnesses, were left unsupervised for a considerable length of time in extremely hot weather. As a result of being left unattended in more than 90-degree heat, they both died. Jones’s body temperature was reportedly 105 degrees when he was found unconscious.

According to the coroner, both men were takings medication that made them vulnerable to heat. The group’s home director, Pam Shay, says that air conditioning was too costly, so instead, the windows were kept open to let air into the home. She also had planned to purchase fans. The state has taken away her license.

Calhoun’s family filed their wrongful death complaint this week. Jones’s family filed their nursing home neglect complaint last December.

According to findings from a January 2008 inspection of the group home, the facility had committed 29 violations, which included failure to adequately train staff—one worker wasn’t trained and the other worker had only undergone four hours of training over the past year—and the failure to provide a healthy and clean environment. State officials noted dirty dishes in the sink, food stains on the carpets, missing ceramic tiles in the kitchen, piles of rugs in the laundry room that were considered a fire hazard, cobwebs, and beds with soiled sheets. In May 2008, officials that conducted a follow-up investigation found that the violations had been corrected.

2nd wrongful death suit filed against group home, WTOL11.com, June 9,2009

State reveals South Toledo group home had 29 violations, Toledo Blade, June 19, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Heat Stroke Can Sneak Up and Kill, CNN, July 28, 1999

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The families of the 23 nursing home residents that died in a bus fire during Hurricane Rita will receive $80 million for their wrongful deaths. The plaintiffs had accused Sunrise Senior Living Services of McLean, the owner of the nursing home Brighton Gardens, of negligence due to its alleged failure to properly screen Global Limo Inc, which provided the bus that proved to be unsafe.

The nursing home residents were killed in 2005 when the bus that was evacuating them from Hurricane Rita caught fire. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, insufficient lubrication of a rear axle was the probable cause of the deadly bus accident. The axle overheated and caused the wheel well to catch fire, which then spread onto the bus.

Among the defendants that settled were bus maker Motor Coach Industries, axle and rear wheel assembly designer ArvinMeritor Inc, component maker SKF Industries, Global Charter, the Bus Bank, Global Limo, Valley Volvo, and K & S Towing. The families of the deceased nursing home workers claim that MCI and the component manufactures were aware that there was a defect in the hub and axle system that could cause personal injuries.

There are other defendants that have yet to settle the wrongful death claims against them and a civil trial is scheduled for September.

Nursing Home Negligence
If someone you love died while under the supervision of a nursing home because the long-term care facility failed in some way to provide the proper care and protection, you may have grounds for filing an Illinois nursing home neglect complaint for personal injury or wrongful death. In the event that other parties can be held liable, you may also be able to sue for Illinois personal injury or wrongful death.

Settlement over Hurricane Rita bus fire brings closure, Chron.com, June 4, 2009

Hurricane Rita Bus Fire Families Settle Lawsuits, CBS11tv.com, June 4, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Hurricane Rita Evacuee Bus From Texas Explodes, Firehouse.com, September 23, 2005

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The Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center has dismissed a certified nursing assistant after pictures of nursing home residents that were unclothed were found on the worker’s cell phone. The nursing home, which is facing a state penalty for the unauthorized cell phone images, is now banning all of its nursing home employees from using cell phones in areas where there are residents.

The pictures of the unclothed residents were discovered after the nursing home worker left the phone in a restaurant. A restaurant employee looked through the phone identify its owner and saw the pictures.

The phone was returned to the nursing home staffers, who contacted the state about the images. The long-term care facility fired the nursing home assistant that owns the phone. The nursing home also fired another certified nursing assistant that was in some of the pictures. Two other nursing home workers that were linked to the cell phone photos had already left the employ of the facility.

When investigators questioned the nursing home assistant about the pictures, the worker called the patients his “babies” and claimed the pictures were for “my memories.”

The images of the 12 residents include 27 videos and 47 pictures that were taken between July 2007 and March 2009. Photos show the various residents in different states of undress. Video footage shows residents engaging in different acts, including some residents trying to feed themselves. One video shows a patient eating without dentures. Another video shows nursing home workers shaking a resident in attempt to get the patient to make a specific noise.

According to the state, the nursing home failed to protect its residents from nursing home abuse and allowed the patients’ privacy, dignity, and safety to be compromised.

Taking photographs of a nursing home resident without his or her consent is a violation of the patient’s privacy. It is also a form of nursing home abuse. People that stay in nursing homes are usually sick, mentally ill, or frail enough that they require full-time special medical and nursing care. Many of them are too weak or sick or vulnerable to be able to protect themselves from nursing home abuse or neglect.

Worker took images of several unclothed residents at nursing home, Knoxnews.com, June 6, 2009

Nursing home ordered to not admit new patients, Miami Herald, May 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Sex and intimacy in the nursing home: among many issues, resident privacy is key, The Free Library

Elder Abuse, HelpGuide.org

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According to the Chicago Reporter, the Alden Wentworth Rehabilitation and Health Care Center has the worst rating that a US nursing home can receive for quality of care and is the defendant in three times as many lawsuits as half of the 91 nursing homes in Chicago. The Alden Wentworth Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, located in the South Side, was in the headlines recently when an 84-year-old resident died after falling four stories. Now, the Chicago lawyer for Bennie Saxon’s family is alleging Chicago nursing home neglect.

If Saxon’s family files a Chicago nursing home neglect lawsuit against the South Side long-term facility, this would be the 14th one filed against the nursing home since 2004. The median for nursing home neglect lawsuits directed at a home is usually four complaints.

The Greater Grand Crossing long-term care facility is owned by Floyd Schlossberg. The Chicago Reporter says that they noted racial disparities in the type of care that residents at a Schlossberg-owned Illinois nursing home receive:

• Nursing Home Compare awarded his Illinois predominantly black facilities the lowest possibly rating.

• Residents at his primarily African-American facilities don't get as much time with nursing home workers as patients living in the predominantly white facilities.

When examining nursing homes throughout Chicago, the Chicago Reporter noted that the difference between the care provide at predominantly white nursing homes and black ones was even greater if Medicaid funds at least 75% of the patient care.

All Chicago nursing home residents are entitled to the proper care—regardless of race or whether or not their stay at a nursing home is funded by the federal government. Any nursing care that is less than the proper care that a nursing home patient needs can be grounds for a nursing home neglect lawsuit if the patient’s condition deteriorates or he or she sustains injuries or dies.

Disparate Nursing Home Care, The Chicago Reporter

Floyd A. Schlossberg, Alden Health Care and Senior Living

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Nursing Homes

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The guardian of River Reed, a 95-year-old woman, is suing Stearns Nursing Home and Rehabilitation for the elderly resident’s fall accident injuries. According to Hazel Timmons’s Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit, Reed fell and fractured her hips on two separate occasions.

Reed resided at the Granite City long-term care facility from May 25, 2007 until July 7. Upon her admission to the Illinois nursing home, workers were notified that the elderly resident had dementia and Alzheimer’s and often became confused and disoriented.

The Illinois nursing home neglect complaint contends that despite knowing Reed’s mental state, nursing home workers allowed her to walk around the long-term care facility without supervision on the night of May 29, 2007. It was during this first incident that Reed fell and fractured her left hip.

Reed got hurt after falling again on June 6, 2007 when she was left in a wheelchair without a personal alarm or supervision. She fractured her other hip on June 15, 2007 when, the nursing home neglect complaint contends, once again Reed was left unattended or with her alarm not turned on and she tried walking without help.

The Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit is seeking damages for Reed’s physical and mental suffering caused by the nursing home workers’ negligence, as well as the medical bills that she now has to pay as a result of her nursing home neglect injuries.

Fractured Hips
A fractured hip can be a very serious injury for an elderly person to sustain. According to the Health and Age Web site:

• Up to 20% of elderly people who fracture their hip will die within a year of their injury accident.
• Fatalities are often attributed to post-surgical complications, which can be affected by the elderly person’s overall health.

Nursing home sued over 95-year-old resident's fall, The Record, June 1, 2009

Falls and Injuries, Health and Age

Related Web Resources:
Hip Fracture, About.com

Stearns Nursing Home and Rehabilitation

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