Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Nursing home patients feel helpless when it comes to dealing with the nursing home’s hierarchy. For example, a 97-year-old nun living in a nursing home found herself in great discomfort with a wheelchair and had to ask how much a new one would cost. The nun was going to use her birthday money she had saved up to buy a new wheelchair. Another patient had numerous bruises from falling because employees do not help her in and out of her wheelchair. Legislators have noticed a decline in the level of nursing home care, and a lack of information on how to voice concerns to administrators. The elderly patients are often too intimidated to ask questions. With the fastest growing portion of the population being people in their 90’s, nursing home care must improve. Additionally, there must be ways for patients to effectively voice their concerns without feeling intimidated. To read the full story, click here.

A class action lawsuit was filed in King County, Washington against a company that owns 15 nursing homes. The company, Extendicare Homes, Inc., is a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based Extendicare Health Services which owns nursing homes in Milwaukee. The suit claims that customers are lured in with false advertising and charged for services that are not provided. The main focus of the suit is nursing home fraud. The nursing home suit has been filed by The Garcia Law Firm of Long Beach, California and Stritmatter, Kessler, Whelan, Coluccio of Seattle, Washington. A representative from the Garcia Law firm stated that he believes it is corporate strategy and policy to maximize profits at the expense of the elderly. To read the full story, click here.

NCCNHR is seeking nominations for individuals who have made a significant difference in long term and nursing care for its 2008 Leadership Awards for outstanding service to nursing home and long term care residents. Nominations are due to NCCNHR by July 18. Awards will be presented at the NCCNHR annual meeting and conference in Indianapolis, IN on October 15 through 17.

For more information and nomination forms, visit NCCNHR: www.nccnhr.org

A woman claiming to have been jailed as retaliation for complaining about the care her mother was receiving at a nursing home has now sued both the home and the city. Maxine Veatch and her sister sued Bartels Retirement Community where their elderly mother has lived since 2004. She alleges false imprisonment and malicious prosecution against the city, but also nursing home neglect against the long term care facility. At issue in the nursing home negligence claim are medication errors and a lack of cleanliness. After raising their complaints with managers of the home, the sisters allege that the administrators of the nursing home put together a book with accusations against the sisters. The nursing has already been cited by the state for 11 violations since 2004 and last year those inspecting alleged a high rate of medication errors and staffing problems regarding nursing services. Veatch’s arrest stemmed from an incident at the home where her she states that her mother collapsed in her arms, causing Veatch to swing her into a nearby wheelchair. Staff at the nursing home reported that Veatch had shoved her mother into a wheelchair, and Veatch was issued a citation for assault and jailed for 23 hours, then barred from the nursing home for over a year, her sister barred for 8 months. While Veatch was acquitted of the assault charge, she was classified by the Department of Human Services in her state as an abuser, but she won an appeal where an administrative judge found that she had actually aided her mother.

Read more here.

A new nursing home movement has some advocates pushing for smaller and more communal nursing homes which are being called Green Nursing Homes. Currently nursing homes nationwide are stricken with reports of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect but advocates for a change hope these problems can be alleviated with the creation of nursing home care in a smaller and closer knit facility. To read more on the potential nursing home reform that can come from this click here.

Many nursing homes require residents or their families to sign arbitration clauses, whereby they sign away their right to bring suit in court for any abuse or neglect by the nursing home. A Senate committee is currently investigating the issue and heard from the family of William Kurth on Wednesday. Kurth fractured his hip and leg and received numerous pressure ulcers while living out his final months in a nursing home. His family attempted to sue for negligence, but the case was dismissed on account of his wife having signed an arbitration clause when her husband was admitted. Arbitration clauses benefit nursing homes because of their speed, cost, and, most notably, their confidentiality. The problem, however, is that most families are not thinking about suing a home when they admit their family member or loved one into the nursing home. Kurth’s wife, for example, was distressed about her husband’s recent stroke and overall condition and was, herself, taking medication when she agreed to arbitration. The Kurth family attorney called that day one of the most stressful in her life, and states that she would not have signed those papers if she knew what she was giving up: the right to a trial by jury. Kurth’s children allege that their father got infections because excrement and urine were left on his bed sores without being cleaned for multiple days in a row. While there is mounting support for banning arbitration clauses for nursing homes, the issue is still hotly contested and far from decided.

Read more here.

A missing nursing home resident has left the facility he was residing in. A search continues for the 56 year old missing nursing home resident. Problems with resident wandering and resident elopement are often related to a nursing home failure to supervise its residents. So far no nursing home lawsuit has been filed against the facility. To read the full story and see a picture of the missing resident click here.

Police are investigating a nursing home rape case. Nursing home abuse and Nursing home neglect are serious problems nationwide but nursing home crimes raising to the level of seriousness of a rape are rare. A nursing home failure to supervise its residents may be a cause of this alleged incident. To see the full story click here.

Many, if not most, nursing homes currently require potential residences to sign arbitration clauses as a prerequisite to moving into the home. This essentially means that residences are prevented from bringing a conventional nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit, and instead must submit any complaints to a private arbitrator, who is both chosen and paid for by the nursing home itself in non-public proceedings where awards end up being much smaller than equivalent jury verdicts. Furthermore, the clauses, hidden within the mounds of paperwork required by potential residents can easily be missed by the elderly applicants, especially those ailing from Dementia or other diseases. A new bill seeks to ban mandatory nursing home arbitration clauses because of the potential unethical effects when applied to seniors. The bill would benefit anyone potentially bringing suits for nursing home abuse and neglect.

Read more here.

An owner and operator of four personal care homes that provided “appalling” care reached a $700,000 settlement agreement whereby she agreed never to operate any such facility. Following the closing of the last of her four personal care facilities, the owner reached a settlement that is merely a drop in the bucket for the multimillionaire, especially considering the severity of the allegations.

The owner and her managers were accused of horrible treatment while siphoning federal assistance funds designed for residents for their own personal use, including social security, disability, and veterans benefits. U.S. attorneys alleged that the owner’s facilities were unsanitary, structurally unsafe, provided insufficient food, nutrition, clothing and bedding. Where residents were ill and needed medical assistance, the facility’s staff failed to respond or even call for medical assistance. Furthermore, the facilities were chronically understaffed, including one home that was cited twice in three months for not having enough staff to provide at least one hour of personal care per day to its mobile residents.

The settlement in this case appears to be well short of many expectations given the atrocious care and the apparent ill-gotten wealth of the owner. She has a portfolio of multimillion-dollar homes in several states, an aircraft, and is currently renovating a gated estate, allegedly using funds that were obtained by virtue of providing substandard care. Unfortunately, this demonstrates the lack of oversight in many states where, for example, 75% of personal care facilities are operating without a license.

For more information, click here and here:

The American Geriatrics Society has promulgated a new position statement regarding nursing home care. The American Geriatrics Society believes that Assisted Living Facilities may benefit seniors over the care offered at long term nursing homes. Nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, nursing home failure to supervise and other concerns have prompted a need to look at alternative care facilities. To read the full report of the American Geriatrics Society recommendations click here.

Those Seeking Trust & Solace in Nursing Homes Often Disappointed
Nursing home complaints are sweeping the nation as Nursing Homes fail to provide adequate care and prompt responses to patient’s medical needs. The struggles faced in such homes and nursing home blunders associated with patient care have been chronicled extensively. Many nursing home failures lead to personal injuries, medication errors and even death. To read stories and see photos on those who have experienced nursing home deaths and paraplegic nursing home care errors 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.

Ventas, once one of the poorest performing corporations in the health care business, has now turned its company around to be one of the most profitable. Ventas will move its corporate headquarters to Chicago, bringing a $10 billion portfolio of nursing home, assisted living, and health care facilities. In Illinois, Ventas already has significant real estate holdings after its acquisition of Sunrise Senior Living. Sunrise Senior Living has faced complaints to the Illinois Department of Health for nursing home abuse and neglect and has been the subject of individual nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuits.

Read more here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its action plan for nursing home improvement. CMS is responsible for establishing standards for national nursing home care by developing the standards, inspecting homes, and collaborating with other organizations to help ensure standards are met. The CMS action plan lays out the 2008 goals and milestones for improving nursing home standards including plans on improving treatment and management of bedsores and pressure ulcers, ways to improve feeding by using dedicated feeding aides, and other means of improving nursing home care.

Read the full action plan here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has threatened to cut its payments for nursing homes by 0.3%. Though the percentage seems small, the economic consequences in the nursing home industry will be much larger. This cut could usher in a total of $4.2 billion and has nursing home industry financiers attempting to figure out what these cuts could look like to nursing home profits for the next few years. Unfortunately, profit often seems the only priority for operators of large nursing home chains. All too often, profits are placed above patient and resident care and can lead to cases of nursing home abuse and neglect, and even nursing home resident deaths.

Read more here.

State health authorities have fined a California nursing home $100,000 in the death of a 91 year old resident who choked on food. The “AA citation” is the most severe penalty for nursing home abuse under state codes. The state assessed the fine for failing to find out what was wrong with the patient while he was choking, not providing emergency care, and failing to use procedures such as the Heimlich maneuver to try to save the resident.

For the full article.

A recent Kaiser Report examined the rush of media following the Bush administration proposed changes for Medicaid could affect states. Florida journalists argue that the funding reductions will hit nursing homes in particular because Medicare does not pay for extended nursing home care. Oklahoma experts state that the Medicaid changes would eliminate tens of millions of dollars in appropriations for each state. One chance narrows a field of state workers paid by Medicaid who assist developmentally disabled residents.

These laws must be carefully scrutinized for their effects on the nursing home community. If nursing homes are not properly funded, there are not enough nurses to care for the residents. Then - nursing home abuse and neglect inevitably results.

For the full article.