To ensure the protection of every resident in a nursing facility, the Administrator and staff members are required to follow specific protocols if there is an incident or allegation of abuse. This includes performing a complete investigation and reporting all findings to the State Agency. In addition, the facility is required to perform background checks on every employee prior to hiring and at certain intervals through their employment. Unfortunately, not all facilities follow these procedures. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have represented many abused patients who reside at Illinois nursing homes like Aperion Care Saint Elmo.
Aperion Care Saint Elmo
This Center is a 60-certified-bed ‘for profit’ Medicaid/Medicare-accepted facility providing nursing services to residents of Saint Elmo and Fayette County, Illinois. The nursing home is located at:
221 E. Cumberland
St. Elmo, IL 62458
(618) 529-5581
The facility provides physical, occupational and speech therapies along with skilled nursing care, wound care, palliative/hospice care and Alzheimer’s/dementia care. Additionally, Aperion Care Saint Elmo provides cardiac rehabilitation, post-stroke rehabilitation, IV infusion therapy, respiratory therapy, diabetes management and medication management.
St. Elmo Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
The federal government and Illinois nursing home regulatory agencies routinely update the nursing home database system containing the complete list of all safety concerns, filed complaints, opened investigations and health violations. This information can be found on numerous websites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Aperion Care Saint Elmo maintains an overall four out of five available star rating in the Medicare star rating comparison analysis system compared to all other facilities nationwide. This includes four out of five stars for health inspections and quality measures and three out of five stars for staffing concerns. The Fayette County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have found serious safety concerns and deficiencies at this facility that include:
- Failure to Develop, Implement and Enforce Policies on Abuse and Neglect In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 07/14/2016, a notation was made during an annual licensure and certification survey by a state investigator concerning the facility’s failure to “follow their policy on reporting allegations of abuse in a timely manner.”The state investigator’s findings included a review of the facility’s 05/29/2016 Incident Report Investigation that documents that “at 5:30 PM, before dinner, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) was told by [a resident] that [another CNA] hit him in the mouth.” The CNA that heard the accusation “waited until after dinner before reporting the allegation to [a Licensed Practical Nurse].In a separate incident, the facility’s 11/12/2015 Incident Report Investigation documented that at “7:53 PM, [a resident reported that a staff member] hit her in the mouth.” However, even though the employee was sent home at the time, the staff member in charge of making the report “did not notify [the Administrator] of the incident until the next morning.” The investigator noted that the actions by the nursing staff failed to follow the facility’s undated Abuse Prevention Program Facility Procedure that reads in part:
“Employees are required to report any incident, allegation or suspicion of potential abuse, neglect… they observe, hear about or suspect to the Administrator… or immediate supervisor who must then immediately reported to the Administrator.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated 12/11/2014, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “implement its Abuse Prevention Program Facility Procedures by not conducting a pre-appointment screening for [a Certified Nursing Assistant] use files review to determine if employees have prior criminal history.” The state investigator noted that the nursing home’s failure “has the potential to affect all 43 residents in the facility.”
As a part of the survey, an interview was conducted with the Administrator at 11:00 AM on 12/11/2014 who stated that “he hired the Certified Nursing Assistant on 08/20/2014 […and] recalls checking the Health Care Worker Registry, but has no documentation to validate this.” The Administrator also stated that the Certified Nursing Assistant “has been working as a CNA since the hire date […and] he did not check [the CNA’s] previous employer references or initiate a fingerprint check.
The investigator noted that the actions by the Administrator failed to follow the facility’s undated Abuse Prevention Program Facility Procedure that reads in part:
“Prior to a new employee starting to work schedule the facility will: initiate a reference check for the previous employer, check the Illinois Healthcare Worker Registry on any individual being hired for prior reports of abuse, previous fingerprint check results and the sex offender website links on the registry.”
St. Elmo Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one was the victim of abuse, mistreatment or neglect while a patient at Aperion Care Saint Elmo, contact the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC law firm today. Our Illinois nursing home attorneys can provide legal options on how to obtain the compensation your loved one deserves while holding all those responsible for the harm legally and financially accountable.
We urge you to contact our Fayette County elder abuse law office at 888 424-5757 to schedule a free, no-obligation full case review. No upfront fees are required. Our law firm accepts all nursing home abuse and neglect cases on contingency. This means our services are paid only after we have negotiated your out-of-court settlement or have successfully resolved your case in court.
Sources:
http://bit.do/RILnursingAperStElmo
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6004204FIAK07142016.PDF
https://aperioncare.com/locations/st-elmo/
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6004204FIK12112014.PDF
For more information on specific Aperion Care Center facilities, please reference the pages below:
- Aperion Care Amboy
- Aperion Care Burbank Nursing Home
- Aperion Care Chicago Heights
- Aperion Care Colfax
- Aperion Care Decatur
- Aperion Care Dolton
- Aperion Care Elgin
- Aperion Care Forest Park
- Aperion Care International
- Aperion Care Jacksonville
- Aperion Care Oak Lawn
- Aperion Care of Evanston
- Aperion Care of Galesburg
- Aperion Care of Hidden Lake
- Aperion Care of Highwood
- Aperion Care of Litchfield
- Aperion Care Spring Valley
- Aperion Care Springfield
- Aperion Care Tolleston Park
- Aperion Care Wilmington
