levin & perconti

Inspections of Illinois’ Worst Nursing Homes Show Abuse & Neglect

Published on: September 30, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Nursing Homes Cited for Mistreatment Are Flagged with Special Icon on Government Website

In 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System via The Nursing Home Compare website added a new tool to help better identify elder-care facilities with extreme and troublesome care failures. When visiting the site, the most troubled homes, many with only a one-star rating, also display a red circle with a white hand inside. The stop-sign-like icon can be used as a way to warn families of long-term care facilities currently in non-compliance and those with a documented struggle to meet Federal and state quality care measures.

These facilities meet the following criteria:

Partners At Illinois Law Firm Recognized As Leaders

Published on: September 23, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Levin & Perconti Partners Chosen as Influential Leaders in Legal Profession

Levin & Perconti partners Margaret Battersby Black and Mike Bonamarte have been separately acknowledged for their work as leading attorneys in Illinois. Battersby Black has been nominated for her rising influence as a woman in the legal field and named to Crains Notable Women list for 2020. And, Bonamarte has been asked to join the Illinois State Bar Association’s steering committee on racial inequity.

In 2020, also Battersby Black and Bonamarte joined Levin & Perconti partners Steven Levin, John Perconti, and Susan Novosad for achieving the notable 2020 Illinois Super Lawyer title. The attorneys were recognized for individual and team work representing clients in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, including nursing home abuse and neglect. Bonamarte and Battersby Black were previously honored by the Super Lawyers Rising Stars program for early-career lawyers, multiple times.

Southern Illinois Nursing Home Reports COVID-19 Outbreak

Published on: September 9, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Nursing Home Outbreak at Stearns Facility Points to Sick Care Workers

An Illinois nursing home in Madison County is under investigation related to a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed 12 people and infected more than 100. Stearns Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is located at 2900 Stearns Avenue in Granite City. The 109-bed home operates as a lower quality, One-Star Medicare Certified, Medicaid Approved skilled nursing center.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, an investigation led by the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) revealed that the nursing home allowed employees to continue working despite testing positive for COVID-19. A facility director cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that address mitigating staff shortages to justify the shortcoming.

How To Choose A Parent’s Nursing Home In 2020

Published on: September 2, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Transitioning A Loved One Into a Nursing Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Nursing homes and assisted living centers should offer a safe place for your loved one, whether he or she is your parent, a family member, or a friend who needs guided rehabilitation or to make a senior care facility their future residency. It is normal for you to have questions and be concerned as a quarter of all nursing home residents will experience abuse during their residency and the coronavirus pandemic has brutally targeted the elderly nursing home population.

As you begin your research, schedule a virtual tour of a facility, or speak with an administrator, review these questions to guide your learning about the home’s staffing, environment, and infectious disease outbreaks.

Keeping Nursing Residents Hydrated and Well Cared For May Help Prevent Dangerous Episodes of Delirium

Published on: August 28, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

can dehydration cause delirium
An altered mental status is a difficult condition for nursing home residents to manage on their own, especially when symptoms can present slowly and brushed off for age-related memory loss, stress, medication side-effects, lack of sleep, or other conditions like dementia. Delirium, sometimes referred to as “sundowning” or “psychosis”, is one of those conditions that if misdiagnosed or treated with overmedication, can worsen quickly with irreversible outcomes including long-term cognitive impairments.

Delirium has been defined by The American Delirium Society (ADS) as a state of confusion that comes on very suddenly and lasts hours to days. If a nursing home resident becomes delirious, they may have hallucinations, disorganized thinking, difficulty understanding daily tasks, and inability to pay attention and be unaware of their environment or trust of the people in it. Delirium affects nearly 18% of long-term care residents and has a staggering 40% one-year mortality rate.

Nursing homes have been known to manage residents with disruptive behaviors in less productive ways, and many things can make delirium (and other mental conditions) worse, such as:

Illinois Nursing Home Exec Pinged For Swiping Federal Funds

Published on: August 12, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Illinois Nursing Home Owner May Have Diverted Over $1 Million Intended For Nursing Homes

The Cahill Group of Chicago, an operating company working in the financial industry returned to the nursing home business in 2014 when owner and founder Mark Yampol acquired St. Louis-based Rosewood nursing homes and skilled-care centers for $250 million. Now operating as Cahill Rosewood, the group oversees 14 nursing homes in cities located throughout Illinois (and Missouri), including homes in Joliet, St. Charles, and Northbrook.

Rosewood facilities are repeatedly named on the state’s list of nursing home violators. In 2019, Rosewood homes called out for quality and care violations included:

Illinois Nursing Homes With High COVID-19 Risk

Published on: August 10, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Illinois Nursing Home Facilities with Ongoing Infectious Disease Shortcomings

For decades, nursing home owners and operators have cut corners and allowed their facilities to perform under minimal oversight. Legal liability serves a definite purpose and is a functional safeguard for nursing home residents who have the right to be served by an operation that complies with laws and regulations. Our attorneys are currently investigating outbreaks and reviewing over 100 complaints involving assisted living, long-term care, and skilled nursing facilities that have failed to uphold adequate procedures and responsibility related to the COVID-19 outbreak in the greater Chicago area and surrounding communities in Illinois.

Here is a summary of facilities representing only a small number of our findings.

Meadowbrook Nursing Home Is Still Battling COVID-19

Published on: August 6, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Meadowbrook Manor Reports Another COVID-19 Death, Highest Case Rate in Will County

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reports another COVID-19 death at Meadowbrook Manor in Bolingbrook in Will County. The facility has been home to 41 deaths since the start of the pandemic, with the majority related to an outbreak in May. This is the first death noted since May 29^th.

The facility has the highest number of deaths in Illinois among any other long-term care facility.

Nursing Homes Still Understaffing In Dire Situations

Published on: July 24, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

The Chronic Problems Related to Understaffed Nursing Homes

Deliberate understaffing is a common practice in nursing homes across the U.S., and especially here in Illinois, where nearly 70% of all long-term care networks are for-profit owned. When facilities are privately owned and operated, owners become more concerned about profits than having the right amount of staff available to provide quality patient care. According to a 2018-2019 report prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services, an incredible 90% of U.S. facilities are understaffed. The findings were documented by evidence through payroll records that showed nursing homes were underreporting staffing challenges.

Worker shortages contribute to nursing home struggles that sometimes lead to preventable hospitalizations, injuries, or deaths. Risky cost-cutting measures and unethical practices are creating a ripple of adverse effects that nursing home residents ultimately pay for.

Majority of COVID-19 Deaths Are Nursing Homes Residents

Published on: July 23, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Analysis of COVID-19 Long-Term Care Deaths in 17 Countries

The Canadian Institute for Health Information performed an analysis using data collected (report as of May 25, 2020) from 17 countries to show the similarities and differences between coronavirus pandemic experiences related to long-term care. The review focused on three specific areas of comparison:

COVID-19 outcomes in LTC (cases and deaths)