Staff-to-resident physical and verbal assault is an all too common occurrence in Illinois nursing homes, where the victim can suffer long-term physical and emotional injuries. Unfortunately, not all facilities hire the best employees, nurses and certified nursing aides or provide adequate training that ensures the resident safety and well-being. The deficient practices at many nursing homes are often detrimental to the health and well-being of the residents who are under their care. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC represent abused and injured residents of Illinois nursing facilities like Watseka Rehabilitation and Health Care Center to protect their rights.
Watseka Rehabilitation and Health Care Center
This Facility is a Medicare/Medicaid-participating 123-certified-bed Center providing services to residents of Watseka and Iroquois County, Illinois. The ‘for profit’ Home is located at:
715 East Raymond Road
Watseka, Il 60970
(815) 432-5476
As a part of the Peterson health care system, this facility provides memory care, skilled nursing care, Alzheimer’s care and the Peterson’s Pathways Rehabilitation Program.
Watseka Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Families can visit Medicare.gov to view a complete list of all opened investigations, filed complaints, safety concerns and health violations that is regularly updated by the state of Illinois and the federal government. This information can be used to make a well-informed decision of which nursing facilities in the community offer the highest level of care.
Currently, Watseka Rehabilitation and Health Care Center maintains an overall one out of five available star rating in the nationwide Medicare rating system. This includes two out of five stars for staffing concerns and one out of five stars for both health inspections and quality measures. The Iroquois County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have reviewed various safety concerns, violations and deficiencies at this nursing facility that include:
- Failure to Take Appropriate Measures to Protect Patients from Staff Abuse In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 10/05/2016, a state investigator noted a deficient practice while conducting a partial extended survey concerning the facility’s failure to “prevent staff to resident physical and mental abuse.” The deficient practice affected one resident at the facility “reviewed for abuse.”
The failure was first noted in the state investigator’s findings after reviewing a resident’s 10/01/2016 Physician Order Sheet (POS) that documented the diagnosis of the severely cognitively impaired resident as having dementia, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression.
A review of the facility’s 07/24/2016 Incident Report Form documents that at 1:20 PM, a nurse at the facility “forcibly seated [the resident] into [the resident’s] wheelchair for [the resident] to sit down, the alarm was going off.” During the incident, the nurse said: “I don’t have time for this and I have things to do.”
During the incident, the nurse also stated that they “will call the doctor to get meds (medications) to make [the resident] sit down.” There was an Activity Aide who “comforted the resident as [the nurse] walked away.” The resident was noted to be “safe with no injuries.” A Certified Nursing Aide called the Administrator “to report the abuse […and] the Administrator suspended the nurse.
Another resident witnessing the event stated at 10:30 AM 10/05/2016 that the nurse “was very rude […and] mean to everyone.” The resident also stated that the nurse “even pushed [the resident] hard down in [the resident’s] wheelchair at lunchtime about a month or so ago. I saw [the nurse] push the resident [who is] a confused lady who would stand up and sit down and then stand up and sit down.” The resident stated that the nurse “should not have pushed [the resident] down.”
- Failure to Develop, Implement, and Enforce Policies Involving Abuse and Neglect In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 10/05/2016, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “ensure employees accused of abuse were immediately removed from resident contact [and a failure] to prevent staff-to-resident physical and mental abuse [and a failure to] thoroughly investigate an alleged abuse of [a resident]. These failures have the potential to impact all 74 residents.”
The state investigator reviewed the facility’s Incident Report File and noted that it “contained no interview with [the nurse] the accused perpetrator.” When interviewed on 10/04/2016, the Director of Nursing confirmed that “there was no interview in the file for [the nurse] and it appears no interview was completed with [the nurse]. All staff and residents involved in the incident should have been interviewed.”
Watseka Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your spouse, parent or grandparent has suffered injury or harm while a patient at Watseka Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, call the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC law offices now. Our knowledgeable Watseka attorneys offer legal representation to patients with cases that involve neglect, abuse, and mistreatment happening in Illinois nursing homes.
We urge you to contact our Iroquois County elder abuse law office at (888) 424-5757. Schedule your appointment today to speak with one of our experienced lawyers for your complementary recompense claim review. You do not need to make any upfront payment for our legal services because we accept all nursing home abuse and neglect cases through contingency fee agreements. This means our fees are paid only after we have successfully resolved your claim for compensation by negotiating an acceptable out of court settlement or win your case at trial.
Sources:
http://bit.do/RILnursing-Watseka-Rehab
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6009765FA09152016.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6009765FA07282016.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6009765FA06082016.PDF
