nursing home news

Levin & Perconti, Nationally Recognized Leaders in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Law, Launches Investigation into Illinois Nursing Homes Amid COVID-19

Published on: May 19, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Levin & Perconti, Nationally Recognized Leaders in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Law, Launches Investigation into Illinois Nursing Homes Amid COVID-19
Nursing home residents still have the right to proper care and providers should always be held accountable when that care goes badly wrong. It’s no different during these difficult times surrounding COVID-19.

The attorneys at Levin & Perconti have launched over 100 investigations into a number of assisted living, long-term care and skilled nursing facilities that have failed to uphold adequate safeguards and care in response to the COVID-19 outbreak for residents in Cook and surrounding counties in Illinois. We are seeking anyone who has information about the outbreak of COVID-19 at these facilities to contact us.

If you or your loved one has been impacted by COVID in a nursing home, please contact us for a free consultation on whether you have a legal case against the nursing home.

Levin & Perconti Partner Speaks Up for Illinois Nursing Home Residents

Published on: May 7, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Each week, it’s expected that an increasingly high number of U.S. nursing homes will have confirmed cases of COVID-19 and subsequent outbreaks among residents and staff. In Joliet, Illinois, the view is also looking grim. On April 23, Steven Levin, a partner and attorney at Levin & Perconti, spoke with The Times Weekly about the alarming issues arising at Symphony of Joliet. The newspaper is reporting that the facility has more confirmed cases and deaths from coronavirus than any other long-term care facility in Will County.

Levin & Perconti has a history of helping families file lawsuits against Symphony facilities for negligence. Unfortunately, those same failures are being highlighted and have become more noticeable due to the spread of COVID-19.

“We are currently representing several family members of residents at Symphony of Joliet nursing home,” Levin told The Times Weekly. “We’re receiving an increased number of calls directly from residents’ families.”

Nursing Homes Must Report COVID-19 Sicknesses and Deaths

Published on: April 24, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

COVID-19 has an alarming infection rate across the U.S., now totaling more than 672,000 confirmed cases, according to John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Many of the individuals at most risk of a COVID-19 infection in Illinois reside at one of the state’s 1,200 long-term care facilities, responsible for the care of more than 100,000 individuals. Several advocates for quality long-term care are now raising questions about how accurate the reporting of COVID-19 cases among Illinois residents truly is and how that may be causing a delay in preventing the spread of the disease.

Levin & Perconti partner and attorney Steven Levin spoke to Chicago ABC7 about the role of inaccuracies in reporting COVID-19 cases in the state, saying, “I believe that reported cases are the tip of the iceberg. I believe we are going to find a scary situation once independent observers can go into the nursing homes to see what’s happened.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) says as many as 305 long-term health care facilities have felt the impact of the highly contagious virus, with many nursing homes experiencing wide-spread community transmission. While there is no publicly available list of Illinois facilities battling coronavirus infections, on Wednesday, April 15, the state reported 1,587 cases associated with long-term facilities and 296 related deaths, including residents and staff.

Nursing Homes Can Help Residents Cope During COVID-19 Lockdown

Published on: April 7, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

The quick spread of coronavirus and strict isolation measures overtaking U.S. nursing homes has created a stressful time for not only nursing home care staff but all nursing home residents. Many of these residents are battling health conditions, living away from family, and now restricted from visitors and isolated in their rooms, or have been moved into different areas of the facility where they can no longer socialize with others. An individuals’ moral, as well as the types of mental health care resources available in nursing homes, are important considerations to take seriously during these ongoing disruptions.

In the midst of the pandemic, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News performed a survey requesting feedback from nursing home administrators and nursing directors on how they are working to “keep spirits up” during the lockdown and what types of extra attention directed toward residents is being provided.

Staying Connected with Friends and Family Members Living in Long-Term Care Facilities

Published on: March 20, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care Invites You to Share #LoveFromADistance

With new directives placing strict limits on visitors to nursing homes and many assisted living facilities taking similar precautions, friends and families of residents living in long-term care facilities are using creative ways to stay in touch with their loved ones.

Coronavirus Outbreak at Illinois Nursing Home

Published on: March 20, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

First Illinois Nursing Home to Report Coronavirus Outbreak is in DuPage County

Officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are reporting at least 46 people, including both residents and staff, have tested positive for coronavirus at a DuPage county nursing home. This is the first coronavirus outbreak in a long-term care facility in the state. Chicago’s WGN9 reported the first confirmed test of a Willowbrook resident over the weekend by state health officials. Only days later, the virus moved quickly to others at the Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located in the 7000 block of South Madison Street in Willowbrook. Thirty-three of the cases are residents, and 13 are staff members. Public health officials said other residents are now isolated in another area of the facility as officials expect additional positive tests to come back. Willowbrook is a southwestern suburb of Chicago.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent out a new set of rules for nursing home facilities on Friday, March 13. The strict guidance says that all visitors and non-essential health care personnel should be restricted, except for certain compassionate care situations, such as an end-of-life situation. In addition, long-term care staff should start being screened for symptoms before starting their shift.

Steven Levin Speaks with Chicago’s ABC7 About Coronavirus and Understaffed Nursing Homes

Published on: March 19, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Steven Levin Speaks with Chicago’s ABC7 About Coronavirus and Understaffed Nursing Homes
As of March 19, public health officials in Illinois have recognized four long-term care facilities in the Chicago area reporting COVID-19 cases. This includes a possible coronavirus outbreak inside a nursing home in west suburban Willowbrook involving 46 people, including 33 residents and 13 staff.

As public health officials wait on additional test results to come back related to Willowbrook, two residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in Evanston at Three Crowns Park, there is one confirmed case at Admiral at the Lake facility in Chicago’s Edgewater, and a staff member at the Church Creek Senior Living Center in Arlington Heights is also infected. Nursing home advocates and family members of residents are only left to wonder how the viral spread might make its way into other facilities around the state.

Levin & Perconti founder and attorney Steven Levin joined ABC7 to talk about how an already understaffed long-term care system continues to weaken the care of our most vulnerable citizens due to COVID-19.

State Attorney Race Puts ManorCare Back In The News

Published on: March 18, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Remember the Big Payout to Nursing Home Chain, HCR ManorCare?

The for-profit nursing home chain ManorCare went bankrupt with $7.1 billion in debt in 2018 over neglect and Medicare fraud allegations. The group operates about 15 facilities located throughout the Chicago area, primarily under the Heartland, ManorCare Health Services and Arden Courts brands. Prior to the bankruptcy, the chain was owned by the Carlyle Group, who bought the real estate in 2007 for $6.1 million. According to the Washington Post, the chain couldn’t make the $472 million a year rent payment, so instead, left its financial ruin to the takeover company, Quality Care Properties. Residents were found neglected, uncared for and living with painful bedsores and fall injuries, and without barely enough staff. An analysis of violation reports and records from the Illinois Department of Health shows:

Staff at a South Holland facility failed to prevent a woman from getting bedsores, and an infection led to her untimely death in 2010.

Coronavirus Concerns Grow For Illinois Nursing Homes

Published on: March 18, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

Concern for Coronavirus Spread is Now a Sobering Reality for Illinois Nursing Homes

On Tuesday, March 15, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the first death from the new coronavirus in Illinois. The woman had close contact with another person infected with the virus. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said she did have an underlying health condition but was not a resident of a nursing home facility. Although a total of 160 cases of COVID-19 have now been tracked in the state, including 22 cases at Willowbrook nursing home in DuPage County impacting 18 residents and four employees. Chicago’s WGN9 reported the first resident’s confirmed test over the weekend by state health officials. The resident is now in critical condition. The virus has since moved quickly to others at the Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located in the 7000 block of South Madison Street in Willowbrook.

Fast-Changing Information About Coronavirus in Illinois (March 17, 2020)

Identifying At-Risk Older Adult Populations, Coronavirus

Published on: March 13, 2020 | Levin & Perconti

As the country is wrapped in a global pandemic never witnessed before by many, it’s important to make predictions about which groups of people will be most affected by coronavirus, or COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that older adults carry the characteristics that put them at greater risk of illness and death related to the virus. These adults may have limitations which impair their ability to respond to an infectious disease or emergency, such as:

Disabilities that have impaired their mobility