How To Know If Your Loved One Is Malnourished, Dehydrated

Published on: March 2, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

March is National Nutrition Month – Nursing Home Negligence Can Lead to Malnutrition and Dehydration

In long-term care and post-acute care settings, malnutrition is often a result of ongoing neglect by caretakers who do not offer enough food or do not monitor proper nutrient consumption either by the mouth or a feeding device. And although delivering nutritious food, adequate amounts of water, and quality care to these individuals seems like basic necessities all facilities should provide, a staggering 85% of elderly living in nursing home-type environments suffer from malnutrition.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

Chicago Area Still Seeing Daily COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

Published on: February 17, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

Illinois Nursing Home Residents Still Battling COVID-19 Challenges, Pandemic Concerns Remain High in Cook County

On Feb. 25, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 1,884 new coronavirus disease cases. And while 130,000 doses of vaccine were administered across the state, the greatest group of individuals at risk of deadly exposure remain the elderly and those living in nursing homes and long-term care and rehabilitation facilities. In the weekly report, IDPH also provided a list of counties with recent fatalities.

Adams County: 1

Illinois Nursing Homes Fined For 2020 Care Violations

Published on: February 15, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

State Releases Final Report of Illinois Nursing Home Violators in 2020

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has released its last quarterly report of nursing home violators for 2020. This report dates October 2020 thru December 2020 and reflects quarter-four surveys and inspections. It highlights facilities cited for violations of the Nursing Home Care Act, public links to access the survey reports, and the related fines. Facilities with the most significant and severe penalties accrued more than $50,000 in fines. They included Generations Rock Island, Aperion Care Chicago Heights, Stephenson Nursing Center, Stearns Nursing & Rehab Center, Metropolis Rehab & Healthcare Center, and Lakeside Rehab & Healthcare in East Peoria.

Accolade Healthcare of Paxton on Pells (Paxton)

As Vaccines Roll-In, Nursing Home Care Quality Must Not Be Forgotten

Published on: February 10, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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COVID-19 Vaccines Are Showing Improvement in Illinois Nursing Home Infections

Finally, as more and more vaccines are being distributed by CVS Health and Walgreens and now received by Illinois’ most vulnerable residents against the coronavirus, the majority of the state’s 1,800 long-term care sites have now completed their first round of shots. The CDC reported on a sample of 11,460 skilled-nursing sites that while 77.8% of residents had received a dose, only 37.5% of employees received their first dose. The low number could prove to be problematic and related to inadequate worker training and education.

Nursing home residents, rehabilitation patients, and those dependents on assisted living services account for nearly half of the state’s COVID-19 deaths. The Illinois Department of Public Health recorded only 861 new cases and 85 fatalities among residents during the week ending Friday, Feb. 18. That was the lowest weekly death tally for Illinois long-term care facilities since October.

25 Alarming Problems Illinois Nursing Homes Have

Published on: February 3, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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2021 Justice in Aging Guide Identifies 25 Ongoing Nursing Home Problems

State-licensed elder care and rehabilitation centers in Illinois may include assisted living facilities, and residential or personal care homes. Unfortunately, hundreds of investigations into these facilities continue to reveal these 25 repetitive problems noted by the Justice in Aging. The organization’s newly published 2021 list points to issues related to relaxed oversight and understaffing workforces, preventable resident injuries, painful and unnecessary evictions, Medicaid complications, dangerous patient abuse and neglect, and irreversible tragedies for families.

Problem #1: Providing Less Care to Medicaid-eligible Residents

Chicago Nursing Home Mogul Mitigates Fraud Sentence

Published on: January 7, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

Former Chicago Nursing Home Executive Has Sentence Commuted After Found Guilty of Largest U.S. Medicare Fraud Scheme

Philip Esformes, who used to be a well-known Chicago-area nursing home mogul, also known as the King of Medicaid Fraud, was released from prison after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence on December 22, 2020. The Presidential commutation disturbingly lessened the former executive’s criminal sentence, without vacating the conviction itself. Esformes, 51, was arrested in 2016 for various acts of criminal conduct tied to a $1.3 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme found through a complex web of bank accounts and systemic payment of bribes. Ultimately, he was caught continuously cycling as many as 14,000 nursing home and assisted living residents in Chicago and Miami while collecting millions from government programs designed to support services he never provided. In 2019, Federal prosecutors sentenced Esformes to 20 years in prison.

“Esformes exploited and victimized patients by providing inadequate medical care and poor conditions in his nursing homes. We will continue the fight against such parasites.” -Shimon Richmond, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector Generals (Miami)

LaSalle Veterans’ Home Families Sue Over COVID Deaths

Published on: January 4, 2021 | Levin & Perconti

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Levin & Perconti Represents Families Impacted by COVID-19 Outbreak at Illinois Veterans’ Home

The recent COVID-19 outbreak at the state-run veterans’ home in LaSalle, several investigations, and the subsequent firing of the home’s administrator, has triggered legal action directed at Illinois officials by the families of at least five dead residents. Levin & Perconti will represent the families, several of whom have described their personal tragedies with tremendous anger and frustration and overwhelming sadness, grief, and sorrow.

In an interview with Chicago’s ABC7 I-Team on December 22, Mike Bonamarte expressed tremendous and urgent concern of the situation, saying that “something happened” to trigger the November COVID-19 outbreak at the facility and that the virus was able to spread “inexcusably” inside beginning in late October, infecting more than 200 residents and staff members. Inadequate safety procedures, staff and leadership negligence, lack of personal protection equipment, and ineffective use of infection control resources likely contributed to the outbreak. Up until then, only one resident and five staff members at the home tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Illinois Nursing Home Deaths Reach Horrific Numbers

Published on: December 28, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

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State Data Shows Illinois Nursing Home Residents Are Dying at Most Alarming Rate Yet

In the most recent data released by Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) officials, the state’s nursing-home residents are contracting COVID-19 and dying from it at their highest reported rates yet. Over the past week (December 11-18), public health regulators have recorded 605 deaths among residents of long-term care facilities, assisted-living centers, state-funded veterans’ homes, and other nursing home care sites. The previous highest mortality (and record-setting) death rate was for the first week in December when IDPH logged 480 fatalities among residents within the same groups of facilities.

The new data brings the COVID-19 death toll for Illinois nursing-home residents since the pandemic began in March to a staggering 7,559 or just over 50% of total Illinois fatalities due to the coronavirus, according to a Levin & Perconti nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer analysis of IDPH data.

How Illinois Nursing Homes Can Prevent Flu Outbreaks

Published on: October 19, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

COVID-19 Care Failures Should Prepare Illinois Nursing Homes for Influenza Outbreaks

In the last flu season, an estimated 35.5 million people were sick with the illness, 16.5 million people required a health care provider for their treatment, and there were 490,600 influenza hospitalizations and 34,200 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Due to the coronavirus pandemic and an estimated 213,000 related deaths and counting, medical communities agree that this year’s influenza burden may magnify one of the deadliest illnesses in the United States, with the elderly residing in nursing homes affected most severely.

Shockingly, U.S. nursing homes have the lowest flu shot rates among health settings, leaving many residents of nursing homes already at a significant risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, now left to battle influenza. And as we have witnessed with the rapid spread of COVID-19, many nursing homes and long-term care facilities are not necessarily prepared to prevent an infectious disease outbreak among residents and staff. The pandemic has brought renewed attention to nursing home quality issues related to infectious diseases, such as:

October Is Long-Term Care Residents’ Rights Month

Published on: October 15, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

October Reminds Us That “Connection Matters” for Illinois Nursing Homes Residents

Every day, Illinois families bring their loved ones to nursing homes all around the state, some feeling certain and others uncertain that they will receive the high-quality care and comfort needed and their rights protected. Unfortunately, willful neglect, preventable accidents and illnesses, and abuse occur even in the most highly-rated facilities. October is a time to remind families and residents of the many rights designed to protect them from these situations.

Residents’ Rights Month is an annual event held in October by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (Consumer Voice) to celebrate and focus on awareness of dignity, respect, and long-term care residents’ value. This year’s theme is “Connection Matters.” The theme emphasizes connections – to family, friends, and the community – as essential components of good health and residents’ quality of life.