Chicago Area Nursing Home is Cited for More Health Violations
On Monday, the state of Illinois released its latest inspection report of the Berwyn Rehabilitation Center. The report cites the Chicago area nursing home for six violations. While this is an improvement from last year, when an annual review of the nursing home reported 29 deficiencies, any violation at a US nursing home is one too many.
Among the inspectors’ findings:
• Nursing home workers were slow to attend to resident wounds.
• The Chicago nursing home did not have a working mechanical lift on the premise at the time of the inspection. The device is used to move resident who need help.
• Failure to regularly bathe some residents.
• Failure to move patients from their beds for several days in a row.
• Failure to provide required pain medication and other medicine as prescribed.
The Berwyn Rehabilitation Facility is one of 81 Illinois nursing homes in the Chicago area to receive a one-star ranking from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which recently introduced a 5-star rating system that ranks US nursing homes according to the quality of care they provide residents. According to Eric Rothner, a Berwyn Rehabilitation Center, LLC manager, the company has taken steps to improve care at the nursing home since taking over ownership of the long-term care facility last Spring. Changes have included adding better lighting and hiring more staff members.
It was just last March when inspectors cited the home for nearly 30 violations (a significant amount even for a nursing home with a one star ranking), including allowing residents to sit in their feces, failure to treat bedsores, and allowing patients to sustain bruises while being transported in a mechanical lift.
Last summer, an overweight resident suffocated after getting stuck between side rails and an inflatable mattress. All significant violations were corrected by the end of the year. Now, however, residents at the Chicago nursing home appear to be facing new problems.
Chicago nursing homes are required to provide residents with the quality of nursing home care that they need. If a patient gets hurt or dies, the long-term care facility and workers can be held responsible for nursing home neglect or abuse.
New violations alleged at troubled Berwyn nursing home, Chicago Tribune, February 10, 2009
Misery: Inside a 1-star nursing home, Chicago Tribune, February 9, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Berwyn Rehabilitation Center, National Nursing Home Watch List
Contact Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Steve Malman for a free consultation about your case.
