Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

The Associated Press is reporting that Illinois regulators are acting to take away Columbus Manor Residential Care Home’s license. The Chicago nursing home is the residence for about 130 mentally ill patients.

The assisted living facility has been cited for numerous violations that have placed patients’ lives at risk. According to state inspectors, one female patient, age 67, had to fight off a Chicago nursing home sexual assault by one of the male residents. Other incidents of violence between patients have also occurred. The for-profit home may have even neglected to tell the doctor of one of the patients, age 61, that the resident was sick. This could have contributed to his death from infection.

A hearing is set for December. Meantime, the Chicago nursing home has turned in a plan to remedy the issues. It is facing a $100,000 minimum fine.

Our Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys have been updating our blog site, Chicago nursing home abuse lawyer blog, with the latest developments regarding the care of mentally ill patients at Illinois assisted living facilities. Some of the incidents that allegedly occurred at Columbus Manor Residential Care Home are examples of why it is so important that patients stay at facilities that know how to provide them with the care that their respective conditions warrant. Otherwise, they can be a danger to themselves or others.

Over the last several months, it has become even more clear that Chicago nursing home patient violence, often committed by mentally ill and/or violent patients, is a serious problem at a number of Illinois nursing homes. An assisted living facility that doesn't do enough to protect a patient from becoming the victim of a crime can end up the defendant of a Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse lawsuit.

Chicago Nursing Home Faces Loss Of License, AP, CBS2Chicago, August 11, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety, Chicago Tribune

Advocating for Older Citizens, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

The Collinsville Rehabilitation & Health Care Center is appealing the $25,300 it has been ordered to pay over the alleged Illinois nursing home sexual assault of a female patient by a male resident last December. While the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that the assisted living facility failed to conduct a criminal background check and did not ensure that the victim, who was afraid of the male patient, lived in a safe environment, the nursing home’s administrator says that a check of the National Sex Offender Registry was conducted, and that this met the state's requirements. The alleged assailant’s name was not listed on it.

The male resident is accused of going into the woman’s room and pulling up her skirt. No charges were filed against him.

While the IDPH imposed the $20,000 fine against the Collinsville facility for allegedly allowing the Illinois nursing home abuse to happen, the CMS fined the nursing home $5,300 for failing to report the alleged sex crime.

It is important that Illinois assisted living facilities conduct criminal background checks so that dangerous felons are not housed along with the general population. Just today, Rockford police arrested two patients from Alden Park Strathmoor Nursing Home on outstanding criminal warrants. Two other residents also had warrants in their names, but they were not apprehended because of their medical condition. They will, however, continue to be monitored.

The arrests are part of Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s efforts through the initiative Operation Guardian to make sure that Illinois assisted living facilities are in compliance with the laws and regulations. To date, her office has conducted 16 compliance checks and found 84 patients with outstanding criminal warrants.

Rockford nursing home residents arrested in sting, RRStar, August 9, 2010

State fines Collinsville nursing home, Suburban Journals, August 5, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Attorney General Urges Alliance to Crack Down on Noncompliant Facilities, Illinois Attorney General, February 24, 2010

Nursing Home Safety Task Force, Illinois.gov

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Allegations: Collinsville Assisted Living Facility Appeals $25,300 Fine Over Sex Assault" »

The Champaign County Nursing Home is under investigation over another complaint related to its nursing care. The Illinois Department of Public Health is conducting the probe.

The incident in question took place in May when a female resident had to receive 24 stitches after she was hurt while an agency aide was transferring her. According to a sign that was posted on her door, no less than two people were supposed to transfer her.

The Urbana, Illinois nursing home says that the nursing aide involved in the incident will not be working at the assisted living facility again. However, the Champaign County Nursing Home is facing a possible fine.

Fall Accidents at Illinois Nursing Homes
Fall injuries and other injuries can occur when transferring a nursing home resident from a bed to a wheelchair, from the chair to a toilet, from the toilet to a car, or from a chair to a bed. Some patients may require use of a special lift or the help of more than one nursing home worker. It is important that nursing home employees follow any specific instructions for providing each patient with the correct assistance so that the resident doesn’t get hurt. Failure to provide that care can be reason for a Chicago nursing home neglect lawsuit if a patient is injured as a result of this type of negligent nursing care.

It was just in May that the public health department fined the Urbana nursing home $50,000 for violating state public health regulations (four $10,000 fines by the state and $10,000 on behalf of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). Already this year, the assisted living facility has faced payment losses and fines totaling over $100,000. Most of the penalties, however, have been lowered to a loss of about $14,000 in federal funding.

State investigates another complaint over patient care at Champaign County Nursing Home, The News-Gazette, July 13, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

Falls in Nursing Homes, CDC

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Under Investigation Again for Possible Negligent Nursing Care" »

The month of July is Elder Abuse Awareness Month in Illinois. Over the next few weeks, communities will sponsor events aimed at creating greater awareness about this problem, which the US Administration on Aging says continues to affect about 700,000 to 3.5 million elderly persons in the US each year. Unfortunately, these figures are low estimates when you consider that only one out of every five abuse cases is reported.

At our Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse law firm, we are dedicated to combating Illinois elder abuse and making sure that our clients and their families are compensated for injuries and deaths caused by Illinois nursing home negligence. There are steps that you can take to protect your loved one from Chicago elder abuse including:

• Before choosing your loved one’s nursing home, actually visit the assisted living facility and personally inspect the place.
• Talk to nursing home workers at each facility and watch how they interact with patients.
• Observe the residents to see whether they seem happy and comfortable at the nursing home.
• Check out the Medicare Web site to see how the assisted living facility fared under the federal rating.
• Once your loved one is admitted to a nursing home, visit and call regularly.
• Watch out for signs of elder abuse or neglect.

According to the Illinois Department on Aging, there are up to 80,000 Illinois elder abuse victims each year. The state is encouraging people to "Break the Silence" and report any suspected elder abuse and neglect incidents. Remember that elder abuse takes place in Illinois nursing homes and in private settings. Chicago, Illinois elder abuse and neglect can lead to physical injuries, emotional trauma, health complications, sepsis, elder financial abuse, clogged breathing tubes, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, malnutrition, dehydration, choking accidents, wandering accidents, fall accidents, bedsores, and death.

Help prevent elder abuse, Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2010

Illinois Department on Aging urges people to “Break the Silence” and report suspected incidents of Elder Abuse, Illinois Department on Aging, June 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department on Aging

Elder Abuse and Neglect Act

US Administration on Aging

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

A nursing home resident who is wanted by the law was arrested on June 24 during a compliance check raid on the Virgil Calvert Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. Rotherford Davis, 61, is wanted on a drug-possession charge.

The raid was part of Operation Guardian, a program that involves unannounced visits to nursing homes that allows officials to check whether an assisted living facility has any compliance and safety issues. The initiative, launched by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, is intended to protect nursing home patients.

Unfortunately, some criminals have been using Illinois assisted living facilities as safe houses where they can hide. It is a violation of the law for a nursing home operator to fail to identify that there is a fugitive living at a long-term care facility. Virgil Calvert’s owner did not know that Davis was a wanted man. However, nursing homes are supposed to conduct background checks on prospective residents and employees to determine whether they have criminal records and if any of them pose a danger to the other patients.

There are nursing home residents that have suffered severe injuries because they were sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, or murdered by a fellow resident or a nursing worker with a violent past. Many of these injuries and deaths could have been prevented if only the nursing home did their job by screening out dangerous people and implementing safety measures in the event that a resident with a violent record was admitted. Nursing homes can be held liable for Illinois nursing home negligence if their failure to act allowed a patient’s personal injuries or wrongful death to occur.

Since launching Operation Guardian last February, 12 Illinois nursing homes have been inspected during these unannounced visits. Police have found 61 people that are wanted on arrest warrants for crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to attempted murder to sexual offenses. 12 arrests have been made. Many arrests could not be made because the patients were too sick to be transported from the facility or there were geographic limits to the warrants. According to Madigan’s deputy chief of Staff Kara Madigan, every raid has turned up at least one person wanted by the law.

Our Chicago, Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers very familiar with the harm residents can suffer when living alongside residents that have raped or murdered in the past.

Fugitive arrested in raid on nursing home, BND.com, June 25, 2010

Shocking Number of Fugitives Hiding in East St. Louis Nursing Homes, RiverFront Times, June 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Nursing Home Safety Task Force

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Sweep Leads to Fugitive’s Arrest" »

Illinois regulators are taking steps to revoke the licenses of seven assisted living facilities, including Evergreen Health Care Center in Cook County. One of the patients at the Evergreen Park assisted living facility was hospitalized after maggots were discovered crawling in and out of her head wound. The Evergreen Park nursing home was cited for failure to properly care for the 86-year-old resident’s wound and has also been cited a number of other times for Cook County nursing home neglect.

According to the White House, some 700,000 to 3.5 million elderly are neglected, abused, and exploited in the United States every year and many of these crime are taking place in US nursing homes. While lawmakers are taking steps to combat nursing home abuse and neglect, so much more needs to be done to tackle this issue that is harming elderly persons in both private and community settings.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 was World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The day was intended as a call-to-action to increase awareness about elder abuse awareness and neglect.

The idea that elderly people are suffering because people tasked with taking care of them are abusing, neglecting, or exploiting them is a horrific one. If you suspect that your loved one is a victim of Chicago nursing home abuse or neglect, there are steps that you can take to fight back.

Nursing home neglect and abuse can lead to bruises, bedsores, broken bones, sexual assault wounds, emotional trauma, fractures, malnutrition, overmedication, clogged breathing tubes, sepsis, dehydration, choking accidents, infections, deterioration of health, and wrongful death.

7 Illinois nursing homes face loss of licenses, Chicago Tribune, June 17, 2010

Honoring the Global Effort to End Elder Abuse, The White House, June 15, 2010

Related Web Resources:
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Administration on Aging

Nursing Homes in Chicago, Illinois, CityOf.com

Officials from the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan conducted an unannounced sweep of the Golden Moments Senior Care Center in Jacksonville on Monday. They were there to check for any nursing home violations.

This is the eleventh raid of an Illinois nursing home in the last several months. It is the first sweep to target an assisted living facility outside the Chicago area. However, this time, officials did not check whether any nursing home residents had outstanding arrest warrants.

No citations or fines were issued and no one was arrested during the inspection. There are five convicted sex offenders living at the Morgan County nursing home, and all of them are living in individual rooms. The nursing home has completed “risk assessments” on just two of the patients.

Earlier this year, the state of Illinois fined Golden Moments $50,000 for the 2009 death of a 74-year-old resident. The patient, Adam Waeltz, had choked on food.

Nursing home workers were required to ground up food before feeding Waeltz, who had no teeth and was known for eating and drinking too fast. However, on the day of his choking accident, Waeltz swallowed ham that had been torn into pieces instead. After his death, ham pieces the size of a tangerine were found in his windpipe.

At least six other residents had allegedly suffered Illinois nursing home abuse while staying at Golden Moments.

Sweep conducted at Jacksonville nursing home, SJ-R.com, May 25, 2010

Jacksonville, Illinois Nursing Home Fined $50,000 for Inadequate Care Related to 74-year-old Resident’s Choking Death, Malman Law, February 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Nursing home safety task force, Illinois.gov

Continue reading "Illinois Attorney General Conducts Unannounced Visit to Morgan County Nursing Home" »

Regulators in Illinois have begun the process of taking away an Aurora nursing home’s license. They’ve already fined Fox River Pavilion $30,000 for multiple violations and authorities have accused the suburban Chicago assisted living facility of not properly supervising its mentally ill, suicidal, and aggressive residents.

On December 17, nursing home patient Randall Moons died after getting involved in a brawl with another patient. The 57-year-old resident, who has schizophrenia and a history of violence, experienced heart failure after he allegedly assaulted his roommate, who said that no one responded for more than 20 minutes to his calls for help. The roommate sustained injuries to his mouth, nose, ears, as well as suffered a broken kneecap.

In an unrelated case, Fox River was cited for letting a mentally retarded patient eat napkins, latex gloves, toilet paper, and other objects. The resident ended up having to undergo surgery so the objects could be removed. The Aurora assisted living facility also reportedly let a suicidal resident have access to a razor blade. She used the blade to cut her arm and had to have 40 stitches.

In December, there were 26 felons living at Fox River Pavilion. Almost all of the nearly 100 patients living at the Kane County nursing home moved out last month. The steps to revoke Fox River Pavilion’s license comes one month after Somerset Place, a Chicago nursing home, was forced to turn in its license. Like Somerset Place, Fox River Pavilion has already lost its Medicaid funding for endangering patients’ lives. The Aurora assisted living facility has asked for a hearing to dispute the government’s findings that resulted in the revocation of this funding.

Inadequate Supervision
Failure to properly supervise nursing home patients can prove fatal if a resident has a history of violence, is mentally challenged, suffers from mental illness, is a wandering risk, or has special nursing needs. Inadequate supervision can be grounds for a Chicago, Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit if injuries or deaths results.

Ill. moves to revoke Aurora nursing home's license, BND, April 26, 2010

Funds cut off to Aurora nursing home, Chicago Tribune, February 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes in Illinois

Medicaid Nursing Home 2010 Eligibility Rules and Asset Protection, Medicaid Asset Protection Plan

Continue reading "Illinois takes Action To Revoke Suburban Chicago Nursing Home’s License " »

An Illinois Appellate Court has gotten rid of a cap that limits how large of a fine the state’s Department of Public Health can impose on an assisted living facility that underperforms. The court’s decision overturns a Circuit Court ruling last year that imposed a $10,000 cap on nursing home fines. Before that fines high as $300,000 had been issued for inadequate nursing care. For now, however, the IDPH says it will keep imposing fines under $10,000 to avoid any legal problems.

Meantime, nursing home industry representatives have said that better nursing care won’t necessarily come about just because the IDPH is issuing higher fines. There are nursing home advocates that would like Illinois to impose a fine minimum between $25,000 to $50,000.

Our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers want to remind you that regardless of whether or not the state fines an assisted living facility for negligent nursing care, you and your family may still be able to pursue a civil case to obtain damages for Chicago nursing home abuse or neglect or patient violence.

Bedsores, unexplained falls, malnutrition, dehydration, sepsis, elder financial abuse, poor patient hygiene, inappropriate restraint, sexual abuse or assault, choking injuries, clogged breathing tubes, emotional abuse, inadequate nursing care, medical malpractice, and medication mistakes are some of the many reasons why a nursing home resident may choose to pursue a Cook County nursing home negligence lawsuit against a Chicago assisted living facility.

Appellate court lifts ban on nursing home fines in Illinois, McKnight's Long Term Care News, April 5, 2010

Appellate court overturns cap on nursing home fines, The State Journal-Register, April 1, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

Nursing Homes, City of Chicago

Continue reading "Cap on Fines Against Illinois Nursing Homes Lifted by Appellate Court" »