choosing a nursing home

Nursing Homes Must Do More to Protect Residents and Staff

Published on: March 9, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

A message from Attorney Steven Levin

By now it seems self-evident that the nursing homes and assisted living centers housing many of our elderly and most vulnerable citizens are uniquely susceptible to outbreaks of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

We know that the disease is particularly dangerous for older people. We understand intuitively that a site where older people — some of whom cycle in and out of hospitals, bringing germs back and forth — live in close quarters, with shared spaces and resources, faces heightened risk for infection and contagion.

Your Holiday Time Nursing Home Visit Could Be Lifesaving

Published on: November 26, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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Your Holiday Nursing Home Visit Could Be Lifesaving

During the busy holiday season, an already understaffed nursing home care team becomes even more limited, leaving many needs of nursing home residents to go unmet. For the workers who are on staff, they become stressed and easily overwhelmed, creating a rise in the number of incidences of neglect and abuse of residents. This season, we encourage the family and friends of those residing in skilled nursing facilities to make it a priority to visit frequently and unexpectedly check-in on those responsible for providing care. Even a weekly call or stop during this time may be enough to ensure the quality in the services you expect for your mother, father, sister or grandparent is being met.

Unfortunately, even substandard care is sometimes coated, and dangerous abuse and neglect symptoms are hard first to recognize. During your visits, be sure to look for these troublesome signs of maltreatment provided by the Nursing Home Abuse Center. Be sure to report any findings or concerns you have immediately.

What Makes A Nursing Home Dangerous

Published on: October 24, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

How to Find Out If Your Parent’s Nursing Home Has a History of Abuse or Neglect?

Choosing a long-term care facility for your parent can feel completely overwhelming and the decision-making process is often stressful on the entire family. Thankfully, beginning October 23, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is making a much-needed change to how families can be better informed of Illinois nursing homes that have been cited for violations related to abuse, neglect and exploitation. The Nursing Home Compare tool will now include a bright red “abuse icon” next to these troublesome homes.

If you’ve already got a particular facility in mind, or have a loved one who is currently a nursing home resident, you can also use the medicare.gov site to look more closely at your choice or to check into any concerns or suspicions.

Changes To Nursing Home Quality Measures

Published on: October 17, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Improve Nursing Home Care

Nursing Homes Cited for Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation Now Highlighted with “STOP” Icon on Government Website

In response to a recommendation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), The Centers for Medicaid & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it will now be easier for consumers to identify nursing homes and long-term care facilities with instances of non-compliance related to abuse. To do so, CMS is rolling out a warning icon strategy to highlight facilities that meet the following criteria:

Facilities cited for abuse where residents were found to be harmed (Scope/Severity of G or higher) on the most recent standard survey, or on a complaint survey within the past 12 months;

U.S. Nursing Homes Lack Disaster Preparedness

Published on: September 19, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home neglect

Nursing Home’s Failed Disaster Response Resulted in 12 Resident Deaths

Four former employees at the Florida nursing home plagued with power outages from Hurricane Irma will be held responsible for the 12 residents who died from heat-related injuries and illnesses in 2017. The deceased were all residents at Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills and ranged in age 57 to 99.

The employees, of which three were nurses and one a facility administrator, failed to do their basic duty to protect life and never dialed 911 for evacuation help. The company responsible for restoring power to the home released a statement that “those customers who have electricity dependent medical needs should call 911 if they are without power and in a life-threatening situation.”

8 Questions For Your Next Nursing Home Visit

Published on: September 10, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home attorneys

8 Things You Can Ask During a Routine Nursing Home Visit

Everyone hopes that your family has made the right choice in transitioning a loved one to the best Illinois nursing home that will meet their specific care needs and keep them safe. But validating that best home quality doesn’t just happen before you decide to place them there. Ongoing evaluations of a facility’s ability to give the constant care and supervision will be necessary, so your loved one will not be found neglected, abused, or forgotten.

Before making any nursing home visits to see a loved one, we often advise family members to consider taking time to research the latest inspection reports and prepare questions for nursing home staff to answer that could help reveal any mistreatment.

Medicaid Delays Leave Another Illinois Nursing Home Bankrupt

Published on: August 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home closures

Delays by Illinois’s Medicaid Program Creates Ongoing Demise of Non-Profit Nursing Home Operator and Its Former Residents

It has been nearly 12 months since Pleasant Hill Village in Girard was forced to close citing a lack of Medicaid funds and backlog of the payment reimbursement process as the cause. Last year, the state of Illinois admitted to the multi-million Medicaid eligibility delay that makes it difficult for long term care coverage applications to be processed and payments made to Illinois skilled nursing facility operators. Pleasant Hill Village is now declaring bankruptcy on the disruptions and inability to pay debts and vendors, according to a report by The State Journal-Register.

Here is a recap of the August 16, 2019 news article:

List of Illinois Nursing Homes That Violate Safety and Rights Of Residents

Published on: August 27, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

quarterly violator report

Illinois Nursing Homes Named in Second Quarter Violators Report By IDPH

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has released its second Quarterly Report of Nursing Home Violators for 2019. This report dates April 2019 thru June 2019 and highlights 113 Illinois facilities cited for violations of the Nursing Home Care Act, a statute that provides nursing home residents and their families with the assurance that proper and safe care will be received.

Facilities with violations in quarter two of 2019 include:

Medicaid Residents Struggle To Receive Quality Care

Published on: August 5, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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Nursing Home Residents on Medicaid Suffer Most

Most whose financial situation would be characterized as low income and need to remain in a nursing home for longer than expected, Medicaid will quickly become the primary payer for their long-term care. Designed as a public assistance program for individuals with limited financial support, Medicaid funds a person’s physician visits, hospital, and long-term care, drugs, medical equipment and transportation, and other medical services.

Investigative Reporting Uncovers Problems With Nursing Home Ownership

Published on: July 26, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

poor elder care

Nursing Home Chain Failures Highlight a Greater Need for Ownership Regulation and Closer Government Review

Some of the most troubling elder abuse and neglect stories stemmed from nursing home private ownership in the U.S. recently emerged thanks to an NBC News investigation featuring a man named Joseph Schwartz and his responsibilities over nursing home and long-term care facility chain, Skyline Healthcare. The mogul swiftly built his empire out of a small New Jersey office and then across the Midwest. It failed miserably leaving life-long pain and suffering for more 7,000 elderly Americans in more than 100 facilities in 11 states.

Massachusetts: Schwartz told staff there was no more money to fund all of his nursing homes or to pay them. The care team was buying toilet paper with personal funds to help residents. Patients were left for days in their feces due to staffing cuts and no one to help them. When some of the homes closed, 60 residents had nowhere to go, and family members were left uninformed of their loved one’s displacement. In March of 2019, the final three former Skyline Healthcare nursing homes in Massachusetts were closed and placed in receivership after Schwartz agreed to surrender licenses.