Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

An Oregon jury returned guilty verdicts Monday in a criminal case against two nursing home employees involved in the dropping and subsequent death of a nursing home resident. Linda Ober, a 60-year-old resident at Gateway nursing home in Portland, Oregon, was dropped to the floor while being transferred from a wheelchair to her bed, breaking both of her legs. She was then allowed to lie in her bed and suffer for five days, despite staff reports that she was screaming in pain, before being taken to the hospital. Suzanne Kay Ruddell, the director of nurses, ordered staff members to stop filling out an incident report and to not call Ober’s family after the injury. For five days, Ruddell refused to have Ober x-rayed. Finally, after learning of an abnormal bone protrusion under Ober’s skin, Ruddell ordered an x-ray and left for the beach. Ober died in the hospital the following day.

Ruddell was found guilty of two counts of felony criminal mistreatment. Cammy Elaine Nye, the certified nursing assistant in charge of the transfer, was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment for precariously placing Ober in a sling, causing her to drop to the floor during the transfer.

A third defendant, Verna Colleen Heide, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mistreatment in August and testified against Ruddell and Nye at the trial. Heide was sentenced last month to three years probation and 160 hours of community service.

Ober’s daughter has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center.

For the full story, click here.

A state’s Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the adults who took part in physical and sexual nursing home abuse. The Attorney General’s office will take over because the county’s relationship with the girl’s family. The government felt that a third party outside of the community would be better suited for carrying out the task. The details of abuse allegations surfaced after the release of a report that concluded four teenage girls were involved in verbal, sexual and emotional abuse of residents at the nursing home. None of the four teenagers are still employed at the nursing home. This case highlights the need for effective employee supervision at all nursing homes. To read the full story, click here.

Levin & Perconti have filed a wrongful death suit against a Woodstock Residence nursing home on behalf of the daughter of a patient who is alleged to have died as a result of an overdose or morphine. In the suit, the plaintiff contests that the morphine sulfate was being administered to residents without an order and/or outside prescribed parameters. The suit claims that the nursing home was aware that this morphine was being improperly disposed. The lawsuit highlights that two nurses at the nursing home have been indicted for, amongst others, counts of criminal neglect of a long term care resident, unlawful delivery of a controlled substances and obstructing justice. The claim alleges that the elderly patient’s death is a direct and proximate result of the nursing home’s negligent acts or omissions. The deterioration of her physical and/or mental condition which caused or contributed to her death is a result of the unlawful doses of medications, according to the suit. The 78 year old patient died on September 9, 2006. To read the full story, click here.

The daughter of a nursing home resident who died in 2006 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former owners of the nursing home and two nurses. The lawsuit was filed in Cook County, Illinois and named defendants who are believed to have contributed to the death of nursing home patients. The body of the 78 year old woman was recently exhumed during a police investigation into suspicions deaths at the nursing home. The lawsuit claims that the 78 year old woman was administered lethal doses of morphine, well beyond what was ordered by her physicians. Named as defendants were WRHC &RC, which held the license for the Woodstock Residence and two former nurses. The two nurses were indicted earlier this year on criminal charges. Drug distribution is a common problem that arises in negligent nursing homes. To read the full story, click here.

A former nursing assistant has been indicted on sexual-assault charges after being accused of assaulting a mentally disabled patient in his care. The employee worked at a nursing home facility which serves 120 residents. The nursing home employee was accused of sexually assaulting a 69-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. The employee has been indicted of first-degree sexual assault. The elderly, especially those with Alzheimer’s, are extremely vulnerable to sexual assault. It is important for both families and nursing home supervisors to monitor the employees assigned to these individuals. To read the full story, click here.

A former nursing home aide was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing an elderly woman. The man was an employee of the nursing home. The 31 year old employee pleaded guilty to forcible sex abuse for molesting the 85-year-old woman in her nursing home. The distraught family members of the victim asked to Judge to sentence the nursing home employee to the maximum sentence, which he did. At this time, no other nursing home residents have filed sexual abuse charges. Sexual abuse is an extremely important issue in nursing home regulation. To read the full story, click here.

A new survey has revealed that nurses working at nursing homes feel that there are fewer staff members than needed. Nearly three-quarters of nurses surveyed declared that at the nursing homes and hospitals they worked for, the staff numbers were inadequate. A lack of staff members can lead to neglect, and even abuse, as recognized by those surveyed, half of whom reported feeling that quality of care is on the decline. The problem of inadequate numbers compounds itself as more nurses leave their positions because of concerns about sub-par care resulting from the low numbers of staff. Most shockingly, little more than half of the nurses felt comfortable about the idea of one of their loved ones being treated at their respective facilities. This announcement by nurses shows that there is a rising danger of hospital injuries and nursing home injuries, especially medication errors, wrongful death, and other nursing errors as existing staff members are unable to keep up with high demands which can lead to medical mistakes.

Read more here.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has joined the fight against fraud in home health care by exposing a large Medicare fraud led by a major home health care corporation. The corporation provides in-home nursing services. In-home nursing service abuse is a growing problem and is often harder to identify than nursing home abuse and neglect. In this case, the home health care corporation coordinated with corrupt health care aide training programs to certify prospective health care aides without ensuring that the prospective aides took required training courses. This incident raises questions about the quality and safety of in home nursing care and should give family members and home care customers pause for thought.

Read the full story here.

Levin & Perconti Founder and Senior Partner John Perconti was interviewed Chicago’s ABC affiliate about the dangers of uninsured nursing homes. The report focused on Rosewood Nursing Homes, specifically the Rosewood Inverness nursing home where a resident died after falling while abandoned in a washroom for an extended period of time. According to Perconti, the nursing home has now taken a defensive position. This case highlights the dangers of uninsured nursing homes: when a nursing home is at fault for a resident’s nursing home abuse and neglect, the victim deserves just and reasonable compensation for their injuries. An uninsured nursing home can attempt to escape responsibility. In fact, some Rosewood Nursing Homes are insured by foreign corporations that do not follow US laws and are not subject to jurisdiction in US courts.

See the video here.

A recent article on the growing numbers of US seniors highlights a major problem with the US nursing home and senior care industry: nursing home staff members are woefully underpaid despite providing essential life assistance for nursing home residents. Doctors who specialize in geriatric medicine are paid less than their general practice counterparts and far less than other specialties in medicine. The failure of the US nursing home industry to pay staff well is often one of the major underlying causes of nursing home abuse and neglect because homes are not able to attract and retain nursing staff without offering competitive salaries. Additionally, nursing homes may face increased claims of nursing home abuse and neglect, as well as medical malpractice, if geriatric medicine continues to lose talented professionals to other specialties.

See the full article for more information here.

Former nursing home administrator has filed a lawsuit saying she was fired because she complained that the executive director’s 91 year-old father was sexually assaulting a demented nursing home residence. Her lawyer states that this is a classic whistleblower case where the administrator was fired for sticking up for a patient suffering nursing home sexual abuse.

According to the lawsuit, both the nursing home’s medical director and a licensed psychologist recommended that the 91 year-old be supervised 24 hours a day to monitor his behavior, but the executive director rejected the idea.

For the full article.

After reports of nursing home abuse and neglect, the nursing home East Peoria Gardens Health Care Center has been heavily fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health and its director's administrator's license has been suspended by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The director left her job when the IDPH investigations began after the deaths of two patients caused by the nursing home's negligence, the admittance of patients with criminal pasts, and complaints of an atmosphere that caused fear among staff and residents. Attorney Steven M. Levin of Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti filed a lawsuit against the home on behalf of the family of a resident who fell at the home last spring, sustaining a serious head injury ultimately leading to death. Another resident choked and died as a result of the nursing home's negligence. These cases of nursing home abuse and neglect resulted in a $100,000 fine by the IDPH and other severe penalties. Its investigation found 23 nursing home code violations

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A caregiver in Sugar Grove, Illinois has recently been charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person and is currently in the Kane County Jail. He was found stealing from his elderly client, an 83-year-old man, after cashing 12 checks at a bank in Sugar Grove. Financial abuse is the most commonly reported form of elder abuse and neglect.

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A new law passed recently makes nursing home and hospital patients with a risk of falling safer. The law acknowledges problems with the handling and care of patients. Many lawsuits each year are brought on behalf of patients who are injured because the higher level of care they required when being transported or lifted was not met. Patients that are at risk are those at facilities that, either because of neglectful practices, staffing issues or lack of appropriate equipment, are unable to provide the care needed. The new law requires health care facilities to purchase equipment designed to aid in the lifting and handling of patients, such as mechanical lifts, as well as solving many issues relating to nursing home and hospital staff. The New Jersey law makes it mandatory for health care workers to be properly trained and also require that there are enough staff members on hand to be able to meet the needs of patients requiring lifting or transportation. Also important is the protection workers are given from being penalized by employers for refusing to handle a patient because of a concern for the patient's or their own safety and wellbeing. Many times, patients require multiple staff members in a patient handling procedure and when there are not enough workers available to help, the resulting safety risks are unacceptable. Hopefully other states, including Illinois, will follow suit.

Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Colfax, Illinois lost a legal battle in a lawsuit where a former employee was awarded $17,000 after reporting sexual assault of an older resident. The whistleblower claims that she was fired after she reported suspicions that sexual abuse of an elderly resident of Heritage Manor was being ignored. The former employee, and widowed mother of nine, was awarded $10,000 in pain and suffering. Heritage Manor, a company based in Bloomington, has been sued in other nursing home abuse and neglect cases.

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Twenty years ago, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) and it is now time to review its successes and failures in order to improve the quality of nursing home care. OBRA regulates inadequate nursing homes by either shutting them down or allowing well-performing nursing home care providers to take over substandard facilities. However, the system in place requires that those who take over failing homes must be responsible for the liabilities that the previous management had incurred, including fines, penalties and deadlines to correct certain problems, including issues regarding nursing home abuse and neglect. Because the new management must take on these liabilities there are less resources to dedicate to improvement of the quality of care. The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) has strongly urged congress to pass legislation regarding "the counterproductive nurse aide training lock-out, the need for joint training of nursing home and surveyor staff, allowing states to demonstrate alternative quality assurance systems, facilitating new ownership for chronic problem homes, and using civil money funds to improve nursing home quality."

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Despite Carlyle Group's completion of the Manor Care buyout, the union that represents nursing home employees in Florida is suing, hoping to block the takeover. Manor Care, a chain of nursing homes, was recently bought by a private equity firm, Carlyle Group, for $6.3 billion. The transfer was completed the day after rulings that held up the buyout were dissolved in West Virginia and Michigan. The union, SEIU Healthcare Florida, has been fighting the takeover. There are 29 Manor Care facilities in Florida housing 3700 residents.

The lawsuit was brought about on the grounds that the Carlyle Groups license application was incomplete. Another plaintiff listed in the lawsuit is the son of a Manor Care resident. He recently stated, "I want to make sure Carlyle's takeover won't harm my mother's care." All of the parties are reviewing the lawsuit in this controversial acquisition.