Illinois Nursing Homes Abuse

Chicago Law Firm Supports Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month

Published on: June 2, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, Join Levin & Perconti by Going Purple

Today, more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. In Illinois, more than 230,000 are battling the disease. When someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, they will require more care, patience, and support as they grow older. The emotional burden and financial costs are overwhelming on those diagnosed, their caregivers, long-term care workers, and even the nation’s health care system. The Alzheimer’s Association reports that in 2021, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the nation $355 billion. And by 2050, costs could rise as high as $1.1 trillion.

As much as 75% of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will eventually become entirely dependent on someone else to care for them. At times, this support can only be found in a facility such as a nursing home or memory care center. Unfortunately, our experience has shown us that Alzheimer’s residents can be too easily ignored, abused, or neglected within these homes.

After Stroke, Nursing Home Residents Need Extra Support

Published on: May 27, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

Nursing Home Residents Require Additional Rehabilitative Care After Suffering from a Stroke

If someone living in a nursing home has a stroke, they should be treated in an inpatient rehabilitation facility rather than remain in the nursing home. The resident may need intensive, multidisciplinary treatment, and initial rehabilitation should take place in a facility equipped with the appropriate care staff. Advanced specialty care is especially needed if negligent nursing home workers missed the early signs of stroke in a resident, causing a delay in treatment. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders explains the types of strokes most common to nursing home patients.

Cerebral Hemorrhage: Caused by the sudden rupture of an artery in the brain, blood spills out and compresses brain structures. Approximately 20% of strokes are caused by bleeding. Preventable falls may be behind a cerebral hemorrhage.

Advocating For Older Americans and Supporting Post-Pandemic Relief

Published on: May 25, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

After A Disastrous 2020, Please Make Time to Recognize Older Adult Communities

People age 65 and older represent around 16% of the population but are expected to grow to be 21.6% of the population by 2040. And in each community, these older adults will remain a key source of importance – even when they become vulnerable and rely on others for their daily activities and care. In the past year, we’ve seen this time and again in aging communities across Chicago and throughout Illinois as friends, neighbors, and families have found new ways to support each other. Through these experiences, successes, and difficulties, older Americans have built resilience that helps them face new challenges. When communities tap into this, they become stronger too.

Each May, the Administration for Community Living leads the celebration of Older Americans Month (OAM). This year’s theme is Communities of Strength, recognizing the vital role older adults play in fostering the connection and engagement that build strong, resilient communities.

Did Your Loved One Wander From An Illinois Nursing Home?

Published on: May 20, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

With More Nursing Home Residents Vaccinated Against Coronavirus, Summer Season Calls Greater Attention to Wandering Risk

As Illinois continues to open up and more of the state’s population becomes vaccinated from COVID-19, including those over 65 living in skilled nursing facilities, it is expected that many individuals will want to spend time outdoors to help increase both activity and their mood. With that excitement should be a reminder that Chicago will also have its regular summer heatwaves and hot days – making outside temperatures dangerous for some. For the elderly who travel outdoors, take certain medications that alter the body’s ability to regulate temperatures, or are without the appropriate indoor cooling areas, many will negatively react to high-temperature exposures.

To identify any heat-related illness, nursing home staff should watch out for:

10 Questions That Reveal A Nursing Home’s Staffing Issues

Published on: May 11, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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U.S. Nursing Homes Must Do More to Recruit, Train, and Retain CNAs

Understaffed nursing home teams have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic, especially certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who consist as much as 40% of a nursing home’s workforce. These employees support the daily needs of residents and long-term care patients, such as dressing, bathing, food preparation and eating, rehabilitation, hygiene, keeping communication with family members, socialization, and ambulating.

When CNAs do not have support or are treated poorly, it ultimately puts nursing home residents in harm’s way. Among many other oversights, call lights will be missed, hygiene becomes unhealthy among residents, patient morale, safety, and mental health reach low levels, medication routines lapse or become too familiar, and rotating residents at risk for bed sores are quickly forgotten.

Quincy Veterans Home Resident Suffers From Fall Injury

Published on: April 27, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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Preventable Fall Injury Highlighted in Survey at Illinois Veterans Home

In Quincy, the Illinois Veterans Home recently reported a resident fall incident on March 15, 2021, to the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH). According to a follow-up survey led by the state on March 27, 2021, a resident (R1) was injured from a fall after the facility failed to keep his environment safe and a walkway free of clutter. The resident told surveyors he had tripped on a cord and hit his head after falling to the floor. The man was transferred via ambulance to a local hospital to treat a forehead laceration that required seven sutures and a brain injury diagnostic scan. The man was admitted to the hospital overnight for observation.

IDPH’s fall incident investigation documented this pattern of events:

2021 List Of The Worst Illinois Nursing Homes

Published on: April 22, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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3 Illinois Nursing Homes Are Stuck on Government List for Ongoing Poor Quality Ratings and Care Citations

A recent effort sponsored by Pennsylvania senators Pat Toomey and his counterpart Bob Casey shows that the nation’s most troubled nursing homes require expanded support, specific to expanding the Special Focus Facility program and the list provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and state inspectors which publicly review ongoing nursing home care and identify quality issues.

According to CMS officials, the “Special Focus Facility” (SFF) program was created to identify nursing homes that are not meeting health care or fire safety standards and are continuously cited for deficiencies.

Learn More About Sexual Abuse in Illinois Nursing Homes

Published on: April 20, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

April is Sexual Abuse Awareness Month: How to Report Sexual Assault in Nursing Homes

Any touching, fondling, or form of sexual activity when the person cannot understand, is unwilling to consent, threatened, or physically forced is considered sexual abuse. And according to the Administration for Community Living, on average, there are over 1,000 complaints of sexual abuse in nursing homes each year. However, that average does not include sexual abuse by other residents — which means the actual rate of sexual abuse in nursing homes is likely to be even higher. Also, state and federal surveyors who lead inspections count physical, financial, and sexual allegations in one category, so it may be challenging to know the actual abuse risk when investigating a nursing home using public records.

The following people commonly commit sexual abuse in nursing homes:

Brookdale Senior Living Sued For Violating Patient Discharge Laws

Published on: April 8, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

The Nation’s Largest Senior Living Operator Sued for Wrongfully Discharging Patients

California’s attorney general, Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, and local officials are suing ten of Brookdale Senior Living Inc.’s California-based skilled nursing facilities. The suit alleges that the nation’s largest senior living home operator had misled consumers on quality ratings and broke laws intended to protect patients when they are discharged from a facility if their Medicare coverage ended. The company is also said to have failed in giving the 30-day notice of transfers or discharges as required for all U.S. skilled nursing facilities.

“Brookdale does this so it can fill its beds with residents who will bring in more money,” the lawsuit files read. It says the company will discharge patients “regardless of the care and treatment needs,” and that the company also failed to prepare patients to be released or transferred adequately, gave false information to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid that it uses to award quality ratings, and over-reported its nursing staffing hours to the feds.

Patient Safety Book Highlights COVID Nursing Home Care

Published on: April 6, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

Medical Malpractice Briefing Includes Facts on U.S. Nursing Home Industry’s Failed Response To COVID

The 2021 update to the briefing book Medical Malpractice: By The Numbers, published by the Center for Justice & Democracy (CJ&D) at New York Law School, has been released and includes the latest statistics and research on issues related to medical malpractice, including long-term care wrongdoing. The 141-page volume includes over 400 linked footnotes and sources. It also discusses how laws could make it harder for patients and their families to place accountability on health care providers and nursing home owners in the case of medical negligence.

Medical Malpractice as it Relates to Long Term Care Providers