Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers Home
Even though many nursing homes are staffed with compassionate and loving nurses, nurses’ aides and employees, not every facility performs proper background checks on newly hired employees in accordance with state law. Nursing home regulators require routine background checks to ensure that the employee has not been found guilty of abuse, mistreatment or neglect in a court of law. Sadly, the elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many nursing home victims who have suffered abuse, mistreatment, and neglect at the hands of their caregivers.
Even though nursing facilities have a duty to provide protection to its residents, physical assault against the elderly is an all too common occurrence. The frequency and requirements of performing background checks are often ignored by administrators and human resource departments in nursing facilities nationwide. As a result, individuals with a criminal past are hired to fill staff member and employee positions that require hands-on care of elderly, disabled, rehabilitating and infirmed residents.
Beloit Health and Rehabilitation Center
Beloit Health and Rehabilitation Center is a 152-certified bed Medicare/Medicaid-participating facility serving residents of Rockford County. The for-profit center is located at:
1905 West Hart Road
Beloit, Wisconsin 53511
(608) 365-2554
The facility’s healthcare management includes short term and long term care, post-surgical care, respiratory care, IV therapy, wound care, hospice care, renal disease services, cancer recovery, and digestive disease support.
Beloit Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Throughout the year, federal and state government agencies routinely update their nursing home databases and post the comparative information on their national portal Medicare.gov. Many families use this information to decide where to place a loved one in a nursing facility in their community.
Currently, Beloit Health and Rehabilitation Center maintains an overall two out of five available star rating compared with other facilities throughout the United States. The overall rating includes four out of five stars for quality measures, five out of five stars for staffing and one out of five stars for health concerns.
Our Rockford County nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous health violations and safety concerns involving this facility, including:
- Failure to Report and Investigate Any Act or Report of Abuse, Neglect or Mistreatment of Residents
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 03/10/2016, a notation was made by a state surveyor during an annual licensure and certification survey involving the facility's failure to "ensure that all alleged violations involving mistreatment, neglect or abuse, including injuries of unknown source or misappropriation of resident property were reported immediately to the Administrator of the facility and to other officials in accordance with State law through the established procedures.”
In addition, the state investigator also noted the facility’s failure to avoid employing “individuals have been found guilty of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents by a court of law; or have a finding entered into the State nurses’ aide registry concerning abuse, neglect or mistreatment.”
The incident in question involved a resident who “was admitted to the hospital for an episode of unresponsiveness. During a hospital stay, healing rib fractures were identified which were not present on the previous x-ray done approximately 41 days prior. The facility [Beloit Health and Rehabilitation Center] did not investigate this newly identified injury of unknown origin” as required by law.”
The resident’s 01/26/2016 Nurse’s Notes revealed that the resident “was found to be unresponsive, diaphoretic [perspiring] and cyanotic to the lips [purple in color].” At that point, the resident “was immediately sent to the ER (emergency room) via ambulance and was admitted to the hospital” for emergency care.
The investigator also noted that “the facility had no evidence that any background checks had been completed prior to an agency [Certified Nursing Assistant] working in the facility on 01/30/2016.” The agency Certified Nursing Assistant “was substantiated for verbal abuse to [the resident] by the facility on 02/05/2016.”
The surveyor interviewed the facility’s Director of Nursing and the Registered Nurse Consultant to find out if they were aware of the resident’s rib fractures that were identified at the hospital on 01/26/2015. The Director of Nursing “shook her head indicating they were not aware of the fractures” and the Registered Nurse Consultant stated, “she would conclude the fractures were the result of chest compressions done on the resident on 12/29/2015.” However, when the surveyor asked for any documented evidence into an investigation and rib fractures “no additional information was provided.”
Rockford County Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one has suffered injuries while residing at Beloit Health and Rehabilitation Center or any other nursing facility, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can provide immediate legal intervention. Our team of aggressive Rockford County elder abuse attorneys can ensure that your loved one receives the best quality care and assist you in seeking the financial compensation they deserve for their injuries.
We encourage you to call our Rockford nursing home neglect and abuse law offices today at (888) 424-5757 to schedule an appointment for a full, no obligation case review. We accept every personal injury claim, wrongful death lawsuit, and elder abuse case through contingency fee arrangements. This means our fees are only paid after we negotiate your claim for compensation in an out-of-court settlement or win your case at trial.
