Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Fined for failure to ensure a dressing was applied to a resident’s incision to keep it clean, to document when the incision was soiled, to notify the physician of the resident’s frequent diarrhea and possible wound infection and to immediately call emergency services when her blood pressure was observed to be extremely low. The resident died due to septic shock related to a surgical site infection.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to supervise and protect a resident after the resident’s roommate told staff that a male resident had entered their room twice and tried to sexually assault the woman. The incident was not reported or investigated, the physician was not notified and no steps were taken to protect the resident. Staff also did not update the male resident’s care plan to indicate new approaches and interventions to address his escalating behaviors.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to adequately supervise a resident who had a history of wandering and falls and to activate a stairwell alarm. The resident sustained cuts to her left leg when she entered a stairwell without staff knowledge and fell down the stairs in her wheelchair.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to provide adequate supervision to a resident who was an unsafe smoker. The resident left his secured unit unnoticed and went to the smoking room, where he obtained cigarettes and a box of matches. He returned to his room and lit a cigarette that started a fire, which burnt the mattress, bed, wall and bathroom door. The resident sustained third-degree burns to 25 percent of his body and had both his legs amputated at the knee.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to ensure a resident was safe from sexual abuse. An employee witnessed another employee behaving inappropriately with a resident and did not report it for three days. The employee said she had been trained in the abuse policies and knew she was to report it, but was afraid. During that time, the alleged perpetrator of abuse continued to work at the facility.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Georgia based Mariner Health Care settled a lawsuit with a nursing home patient's widow and family a week before the case was supposed to go to trial. The patient died from shock due to hundreds of ant bites at Atlantic Shore nursing home, one of Florida's largest nursing homes. This is the second Florida ant bite case in the past six years; in 2000 a nursing home settled for an undisclosed amount with the family of an 87 year old woman.

Source: http://www.mcknightsonline.com/content/index.php

A resident died when staff failed to provide adequate care to a resident with diabetes after a finger stick test revealed a low blood sugar level. The resident was found unresponsive and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him. During the Department’s investigation, surveyors also found that an employee hired as a registered nurse was not licensed to practice nursing in the state of Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to have sufficient staff to supervise and protect a resident who left the facility unnoticed. The man was spotted by a cab driver wandering down a major highway about three miles from the facility, wearing only a thin windbreaker in sub-zero weather. An employee heard the alarm sound when the resident exited and looked out the window and checked the stairwell, but did not check outside.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Fined for failure to monitor and supervise five residents with histories of suicide attempts or ideations. One resident was found in the bushes in back of the facility with both arms cuts from wrists to elbows. Staff searched the building and grounds for the resident after she did not show up for her medications, but they did not notify police until four hours later. Another resident was hospitalized after attempting suicide by overdosing on alcohol and sleeping pills. The facility was not aware that the resident had been hiding pills or how he had obtained the alcohol.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

A former executive at Iowa’s largest nursing home chain has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly ordering caregivers to conceal a resident’s injuries from health inspectors. Larry Hinman, formerly with West Des Moines Care Initiative, is believed to be the first corporate-level nursing home official in Iowa to face criminal charges for allegations related to resident care. When a resident at Indian Hills, a Care Initiatives facility, fell from a chair in June 1999 and was seriously injured, Hinman and a nurse consultant hired by the company agreed to conceal information about the resident’s fall and subsequent hospitalization. Earlier this year, the home was cited for failing to adequately supervise residents and prevent injuries. Hinman is alleged to have called the Indian Hills administrator and ordered the staff to refrain from sharing with inspectors any information about the incident. He is also accused of telling a nurse to keep inspectors from seeing the injured resident.

Forest Pavillion, an Illinois Nursing Home was fined for failure to assess and treat a resident’s left knee pain and swelling for five days. The staff neglected the nursing home resident for 5 days. When the resident first complained of pain, she was given medication. After still experiencing pain, she was given stronger medication but staff did not evaluate the pain or its origin. An X-Ray taken after three days showed the resident had a broken leg that later needed surgery. The facility did not investigate how or when the fracture occurred.

The facility also failed to protect a cognitively-impaired resident from another resident who had a history of sexually inappropriate behavior with her and to have a treatment plan in place to address this continued behavior.

The Illinois Department of Health produces quarterly reports on nursing home violators. To access the website: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/nursing_home_violations/quarterlyreports.htm

Last October, the Alabama Department of Public Health began posting color-coded ratings scores in nursing homes which must be displayed prominently at the home:

Green means everything is OK; yellow indicates one serious problem, such as inadequate staff; and red indicates a failing score that would result in some type of enforcement action from the state. This is a measure instituted by the state to curb nursing home abuse and neglect.

Grannycams can provide video surveillance for nursing homes that strike a good balance between protecting people, and recording abuse/neglect, without being too invasive to residents’ privacy. The links below show the actual regulations implemented in Washington State:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=388-78A-2680

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=388-78A-2690

A Chicago Sun Times article discusses the 61 parolees living in Chicago nursing homes across the state. Unlike sex offenders, these criminal parolees aren’t required to list their addresses and so residents of nursing homes may not know there are paroled criminals living amongst them in long term care facilities. The article talks about what nursing homes, parole officers and state officials are doing to ensure the nursing home residents’ safety. A list of nursing homes and the known number of paroled criminals is provided.

The article lists the number of parolees by home and is available below:
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