Illinois Nursing Homes

Can Nursing Homes Superbugs Be Washed Away?

Published on: April 8, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home illness

Illinois Nursing Homes Testing Antimicrobial Wash to Avert Superbug Infections

Elderly people are an extremely vulnerable group of individuals, some with an already weakened immune system and underlying illnesses. And for those older individuals residing in nursing home facilities, many sharing community spaces housing millions of drug-resistant bacteria also known as superbugs, the risk is even worse. Superbugs are viral infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to common antibiotics and can cause severe infections that are extremely difficult to treat.

That is why some nursing homes in Illinois have started washing patients with a special chlorhexidine soap. The soap is being tested as a way to prevent antibiotic-resistant superbugs that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say infect at least 2 million people in the U.S. each year and kill 23,000 more. The trial effort is happening in 50 nursing homes in Illinois and California and being funded by $8 million federal dollars.

What Happens To The Residents When A Nursing Home Closes?

Published on: April 3, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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McClean County Nursing Home Residents Transferred After LeRoy Manor Closes

The former long-term care residents of the LeRoy Manor building, located in the central Illinois community of Bloomington-Normal, have moved to other nursing homes throughout Illinois. The private nursing home closed on February 15, 2019, displacing 75 employees and 66 residents. Administrators say about 90 percent of the residents were receiving Medicaid and poor reimbursement by the state was to blame for the closure. The group announced plans to end long-term care services at the home in January of 2019.

Thankfully, regional ombudsman from the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging told local news outlets that residents and their family members felt individual rights and desires were protected during the transition and that staff saw the process out appropriately. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and many residents preparing for a move out of their control will find themselves neglected or abused during a time of uncertainty and when changing staffing challenges become present. The move may be tough though for many of the LeRoy Manor residents who were originally from the area and able to stay connected with family and friends on a regular basis. These are relationships important when addressing basic care and medical needs and identifying nursing home neglect and abuse symptoms of loved ones.

Video Evidence Can Prove Nursing Home Abuse

Published on: April 3, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse attorneys

Illinois Lawmaker Says Families Should Be Able to Observe Nursing Home Care Provided to Loved Ones with Dementia Through Video Monitoring

Senate Bill 109, a plan sponsored by Illinois Senator Terry Link (D-Indian Creek), passed the state’s Senate in late March in response to multiple complaints received by the Illinois Department of Public Health about abuse, neglect and theft against nursing home residents. The bill was designed to help families of individuals battling dementia and would allow the installation of video and audio monitoring devices in their loved one’s room to deter or detect signs of abuse and neglect. The legislation language specifically speaks to the use of electronic monitoring in patient rooms in a building or care area solely dedicated to dementia residents.

The bill is now on the way to the Illinois House for further debate. It supports a 2015 law that allowed for video and audio monitoring equipment in facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities or those living in long-term care facilities.

Illinois VA Nursing Home Care Reports Paint Bleak Picture

Published on: April 3, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Illinois veterans care

VA Finally Publishes Nursing Home Care Reports with Foul Neglect Findings

In June of 2018, USA TODAY and The Boston Globe led with horrific reports that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had been dishonest in reporting the quality of care served to 46,000 veterans for years, leaving residents and their families to suffer and without the vital health care information to support a dignified, pain and injury free life for a generation fueled by American heroes. The investigative reporting used information from 133 VA nursing homes and concluded more than two-thirds were “more likely to have issues related to serious bedsores and residents who will suffer serious pain, than their counterparts in private nursing homes across the country.” Since, many of the official reports have been released to the public and reveal additional deficiencies and an absolute tragic view of the reality of care these veterans will likely continue to receive.

According to the first round of reports made public in March of 2019, these are only a few examples of how inspectors observed veterans treated while receiving care in a VA nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Illinois Failed To Address Legionnaires’ Outbreak

Published on: March 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse

Illinois Auditor General Report on 2015 Quincy Legionnaires’ Outbreak Reveals Procedures Not Followed and Possible “Cover Up”

On Monday, March 25 the Illinois Auditor General released the state report related to the deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at an Illinois veterans’ home located in Quincy that began on August 21, 2015. The infectious disease crisis carried along for several years and impacted 66 residents and 8 others who tested positive for legionella and resulted in 13 resident deaths which likely could have been prevented. The report contradicted the state’s former administration’s solutions to the outbreak and showed recommendations led by federal authorities to remedy the crisis were not actually followed.

Our legal team has highlighted these key themes found within the state audit report:

Illinois Nursing Homes Struggle With Infectious Disease

Published on: March 25, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home disease control

Hundreds of Illinois Nursing Homes Fail to Control Deadly Diseases

According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 380,000 nursing home residents die each year due to care related infections. Sadly, similar to most nursing home sicknesses and injuries, many of these infections are preventable. In reviewing a report from the Long Term Care Coalition using data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in December of 2018, hundreds of nursing homes in Illinois received a low care rating for programs that investigate, control and keep infections from spreading. Citations for the last three years reveal more than a dozen of these facilities are housed in Chicago and were given the lowest grade possible, an “F”, in protecting residents from preventable harm, injury, and death related to disease control.

Aperion Care International (4815 South Western Avenue)

7 Ways Nursing Homes Excuse Resident Injuries

Published on: March 18, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse

Nursing Homes Often Use These Common Defenses When Accused of Abuse and Neglect

The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Levin & Perconti have nearly three decades of experience in defending residents who have had their rights violated and become injured while under the care of others. Through our work we have been able to identify the many common ways nursing homes will attempt to defend themselves even when guilty of obvious wrongdoings which created harm to an already vulnerable individual. These injuries can range from physical and sexual abuse to careless neglect stemmed from medication mismanagement, poor hygiene, haphazard slips and falls, untreated bedsores, malnourishment and dehydration. These injuries can quickly become deadly when not discovered soon enough and are typically created by nursing home operators who make greedy choices that put patients at risk. Some of those common actions include:

Reducing or underreporting staffing levels

Nursing Homes Continue To Fail Under CMS Turmoil

Published on: March 11, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home reform

Latest Senate Hearing Shows CMS Can Do More to Protect Nursing Home Residents

On Wednesday, March 6, 2019 another government session, this time led by the US Senate Committee on Finance, was held to discuss several disturbing reports of nursing home abuse and neglect and the lack of preventative measures and faulty reporting system used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to create environments for quality resident care. The hearing was led by Chairman, Chuck Grassley (R – IA) and Ranking Member, Ron Wyden (D – OR) with special panelist testimony delivered by family members of residents fallen victim to nursing home abuse or neglect.

A Minnesota woman heartbreakingly remembered her mother, an Alzheimer’s patient who was raped by care staff. During the hearing she said, “My final memories of my mother’s life now include watching her bang uncontrollably on her private parts for days after the rape, with tears rolling down her eyes, apparently trying to tell me what had been done to her but unable to speak due to her disease.” A woman from Iowa shared her family’s concern after their mother died in a nursing home ranked with the highest possible quality of resident care scores from CMS even though the organization had been seriously fined for physical and verbal abuse. The elderly woman was allegedly left in severe pain and may have been dehydrated days before her nursing home death.

What Are the 6 Different Types of Strokes?

Published on: March 11, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

types of strokes

Nursing Homes Are Not Always Equipped to Recover Stroke Patients

2016 recommendations from the American Stroke Association (ASA) still stand true in 2019. If someone living in a nursing home has a stroke, they should be treated in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, rather than remain in the home. The resident may need intensive, multidisciplinary treatment and initial rehabilitation should take place in a specialized care facility equipped with the appropriate care staff. The ASA recommendations go on further to say that the “patient should participate in at least three hours of rehabilitation a day from physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists.” Since nurses are continuously available and doctors visit more often than at nursing homes, any form of recovery will be faster than if the patient remains under previous nursing home care.

6 Types of Stroke

As Worker Wages Increase Nursing Home Care Improves

Published on: March 1, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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Underpaid Caretakers Cheer as Illinois Law Pushes Through Minimum Wage Increase Plan

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) is already making good on campaign promises. The new Governor recently positioned Illinois to join several other states in signing a law raising minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, the 81 percent increase will allow Illinois workers to see a minimum wage increase from $8.25 to $9.25 an hour. In July, minimum wage will increase to $10. Each year after that, minimum wage will increase by $1 until 2025, when it reaches $15 per hour.

The news has been well received by both caregiver home health workers and nursing home employees. For decades, the nursing home and home health care industry has remained notorious for clouding care standards with weak, ineffective, and downright lousy wages resulting in extra strains put on overworked employees. Most nursing homes actually have fewer nurses and leading medical staff than they report, leaving underqualified and stressed nursing assistants and personal aides with the 24-hour tasks to keep far too many patients’ dietary, hygiene, medication, and daily living needs met.