Brookdale Senior Living Solutions offers numerous senior living solutions at over 1100 communities in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota. Also, the company provides services at ten locations throughout Illinois (seven in the Chicago Metropolitan area), including senior living communities, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living centers.
Brookdale Senior Living at a Glance
| Website | Brookdale.com |
| Number of Facilities |
over 740 |
| Illinois Facilities |
16 |
| Headquarters | 111 Westwood Place, Suite 400 Brentwood, TN 37027 |
| Year founded | 1978 |
| Type of Care Provided |
Assisted Living Independent Living Memory Care Skilled Nursing Hospice Continuing Care Retirement Communities Health Care Services |
Many seniors choose to move into Brookdale Senior living communities to have constant access to supportive services, including scheduled recreational activities, transportation, and meals. The company’s assisted living facilities provide every resident primary support care and daily living assistance, including housekeeping, transportation, apartment maintenance, and access to social events, recreational activities, and meals.
Brookdale’s skilled nursing homes offer constant contact nursing care with medical staff providing round-the-clock service to help every resident with their psychological, social, and physical needs. Licensed doctors supervise the care and therapeutic needs of every resident by developing a health plan that involves physical, occupational, or speech therapies along with rehabilitation services when necessary. Other services provided at the facility include:
- Hospice – Brookdale offers hospice services when health care options have been exhausted, and the physical health of the patient starts to fail. Hospice is built around a care philosophy that provides freedom from pain by providing palliative options that focus on end-of-life comfort. Skilled nursing hospice care provides patient comfort and support when cure-oriented treatments are no longer useful.
- Long-Term Care – Brookdale offers needed services that include administering medications, post-surgical care, post-hospital care, individualized health care plans, preparation of special diets, therapeutic solutions, diabetic management, long-term custodial health care, and therapeutic health care solutions. These benefits are often because many seniors require specialized long-term care.
- Rehabilitation Services – Rehabilitation is often required as individuals age or following an injury, trauma, or surgery. Brookdale offers various therapeutic rehabilitation services to assist seniors in regaining mobility, managing stability, and adaptive techniques to improve coordination and strength. Additionally, these facilities offer language and speech therapies to improve swallowing, speaking, and oral muscle strength.
- In-Home Health Services – Brookdale Home Health Services in Naperville is the company’s only Medicare-certified home health care provider in Illinois. This service allows individuals to stay at home for years longer while maintaining independence. The wide range of services assists the senior in bathing, safety, balancing, simple wound care, dressing, medication administration, and review, along with monitoring acute and chronic diseases.
- Memory Care – There are numerous company-operated memory care communities across the nation, providing services to individuals who have dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Properly trained Brookdale associates use concepts and approaches to help patients preserve their sense of self.
Legal Problems Involving Complications at Brookdale Facilities
Even though Brookdale is known for its high-quality living at every stage during retirement years, the corporation is not without legal problems. Recently, surviving family members of a loved one staying at a facility filed a lawsuit against Brookdale in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, after the resident suffering dementia died of a fatal brain hemorrhage. The injury was a result of a horrific assault by the resident’s roommate, another individual who has dementia.
The lawsuit alleges that a caregiver overmedicated the loved one and failed to evaluate and monitor the roommate accurately. Though the victim initially survived the attack, he died at the hospital three weeks later. The alleged attacker was sent to a behavioral health Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The decedent’s surviving family members were devastated and filed paperwork to take legal action.
Another legal issue involving a Brookdale senior retirement community in California made national news when a nurse refused to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a Glenwood Gardens resident who collapsed while eating in the facility’s dining room. The attending nurse at the time called for emergency services (911) instead of providing resuscitation herself when the woman was not breathing. The caregiver cited that she was simply following the facility’s policies and protocol. The resident was declared dead after being transported to Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield.
Oddly, the policies involving CPR are not the same at skilled nursing facilities and assisted living homes adjacent to the Glenn Gardens retirement community. Had the woman been residing in either one of those facilities next door, she would have been provided immediate care. The advocacy group, National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, was unaware that policies not to provide CPR assistance existed at Brookdale and other retirement homes.
Medicare and Medicaid Regulations
The federal government, through CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) survey and investigate every nursing care facility in the United States. The surveyors evaluate the level of care that every Registered Nurse, Medical Doctor, Certified Nursing Assistant, and employee provides all residents.
The investigators will review medical records, the level of constant contact, and the end result of treatments to identify any violations of federal regulations. Any violation identified by the investigator is written in a summary statement of deficiencies and made available online through various public sources. CMS will also rank the level of care the nursing home provides based on the state and national average.
If physical abuse, verbal assault, sexual molestation, or wrongful death is identified, CMS will impose monetary penalties or deny payment for services rendered. Additional penalties an sanctions can incur for any nursing facility that maintains a far below average rating (one star) without taking steps to correct their wrongdoing. In some cases, the nursing facility is required to find alternative management to ensure the safety of all residents.
Brookdale Malpractice Awards and Cases
$1,000,000 California Nursing Home Settlement
The facts of this lawsuit arose in a nursing facility operated by Brookdale. The resident at the center of the controversy had a bedsore upon her arrival into the facility. The staff did nothing at first to treat the resident’s wound or prevent it from spreading. Staff members finally provided care on the last day the patient was to remain in special care. At that point, she no longer had Medicare coverage and was required to transfer into general assisted living. After she was transferred, for developing bedsores degraded.
Eventually, when a specialist examined the sores, the resident was transported to the local hospital. Her health declined as the sores became infected. She quickly died of sepsis roughly two weeks after relocating into general assisted living.
The defedent’s nursing home abuse lawyers claimed that the defendant facility and staff cut corners and did not treat her reasonably. The plaintiff’s attorneys claim that the nursing facility was responsible for her wrongful death. In a negotiated settlement, the plaintiffs obtained $1 million of compensation for their loss.
Illinois Nursing Home Case Filed in DuPage County
DuPage County incident occurred in a Brookdale facility (Glen Ellyn). The plaintiff’s document states that the injured victim, Judith Cunningham, suffered a tibiofibular fracture in December 2017. The document alleges that the injury occurred when staff attempted to move her from a wheelchair to a couch.
The home abuse attorneys state that the defendants were negligent in their transfer. Ordinarily, care facility staff have several duties when moving patients to guarantee their safety. They must utilize sufficient training staff and devices while considering the patient’s circumstances to ensure he/she is not harmed during the move.
According to the plaintiffs, the nursing staff failed to follow the established policies and procedures. The attorneys on behalf of the plaintiffs argued that the defendants were negligent. In essence, the lawyers complained that reasonable nursing home staff would have done things differently. If successful, the woman will obtain compensation for her costs, pain, and reduced quality of life.
Illinois Nursing Home Case Filed in Will County
The events occurring at a Brookdale location in Will County, Illinois, resulted in a double-action for negligence and wrongful death. The plaintiffs believed that the defendant’s unreasonable conduct caused the resident’s injuries that led to his death. Upon his admittance to the Brookdale facility, the resident had several underlying severe health issues, including Alzheimer’s and dementia, and was at risk for falls. Before he arrived, his medical providers sent diagnoses, policies, and procedures to ensure his safety and well-being while he lived at the Brookdale facility. According to allegations, the nursing staff failed to follow the doctor’s orders and established protocols.
Consequently, the resident fell and sustained several injuries, which, according to the complaint allegations, led to his death. The resident was survived by his wife and children, who brought legal action against Brookdale. If the plaintiffs’ attorneys successfully resolve the case, the family will likely recover their monetary losses, including bills, pain, suffering, lost companionship, lost support, and related things.
Illinois Nursing Home Lawsuit Brought in DuPage County
This dispute is another example of apparent elder abuse and neglect at a Cook County Brookdale senior living communities (Lisle). The resident in her middle eighties had dementia and was at risk for falls. Yet, defendants (Brookdale Plaza Lisle) allegedly did not take steps to draft procedures to prevent her from falling. As a result, she fell on several occasions. In one accident, the resident broke her neck.
The lawsuit claims that the woman’s injuries caused a decline in her health that led to her subsequent death. Two of the woman’s children survived her and filed a lawsuit asking for damages related to the deficient care provided her in the nursing facility.
Hiring an Experienced Brookdale Senior Living Injury Attorney
Proving that neglect or abuse occurred to a loved one in a nursing facility is an essential component of the legal process. However, there are fixed timelines for filing a nursing home negligence lawsuit. All necessary paperwork must be filed before the state statute of limitations expires.
If your loved one is the victim of sexual abuse, was injured, or died through wrongful death while residing in a Brookdale nursing facility, the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC law firm can help. With our years of experience, we will conduct a thorough investigation to determine what parties are at fault for your loved one’s damages.
Over the years, we have obtained over $250 million on behalf of our clients who filed Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuits involving all types of incidents. Our nursing home abuse lawyers have a comprehensive understanding of civil tort law and the connections necessary to prosecute your case for maximum recovery fully. Call anytime at (888) 424-5757 or use the contact form to discuss your situation with Jonathan Rosenfeld during a free consultation without cost or obligation.
