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Staff members at every nursing facility in Illinois are required by law to immediately notify a resident’s physician of any change in their condition including a decline in their health or injury. This requirement ensures that the patient receives the highest level of care and immediate medical attention if necessary. Unfortunately, not all nursing staff members follow acceptable standards of care when providing services to their residents. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers represent victims of neglect, mistreatment, abuse while living in an Illinois nursing facilities including Faith Care Center Highland.
This facility is a ‘not for profit’ 76-certified-bed Medicare/Medicaid-accepted Nursing Center providing services and cares for residents of Highland and Madison County, Illinois. The Home is located at:
100 Faith DriveHighland Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Highland, Il 62249
(618) 654-4600
Both the federal government and the state of Illinois routinely update their nursing home database systems to reflect all safety concerns, health violations, filed complaints and opened investigations. This information can be found on numerous websites including Medicare.gov. The data is used by many families to determine the best facility in their local community where to place a spouse, parent or grandparent for quality health and hygiene care.
Currently, Faith Care Center Highland maintains an overall three out of five available star rating in the Medicare star rating comparative analysis system. This includes three out of five stars for both staffing concerns and health inspections and two out of five stars for quality measures. The Madison County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have found numerous safety concerns and deficiencies at this facility including:
- Failure to Immediately Notify the Resident’s Physician of a Change in the Resident’s Condition Including a Decline in Their Health or Injury
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 01/14/2016, a notation was made during an annual licensure and certification survey by a state investigator concerning the facility's failure to "notify the physician of a significant weight loss of the resident.”
The state investigator noted after reviewing a resident’s monthly record of vital signs and wreight the resident’s weight as of 12/08/2015 was 146.8 pounds. However, by 01/08/2016, the resident’s weight had dropped to 136.1 pounds. “This is a significant weight loss of 10.7 pounds, [or] 7.3% in one month.”
A review of the January 2016 Nurses Notes “had no documentation of [the resident’s] physician being notified of [the resident’s] weight loss." The investigator interviewed the facility’s Director of Nurses who said: “I do expect my staff to notify the physician if a resident has a significant weight loss.” The investigator noted that the actions by the nursing staff failed to follow the facility’s Policy on Physician Notification that reads in part:
“The physician will be notified immediately by phone of the following: a significant change in the resident’s physical, mental or psychosocial status.”
- Failure to Ensure Every Resident Is Free from Unauthorized Physical Restraints
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 01/14/2016, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to assess and document the risks versus benefits and medical symptoms justifying the use of restraints.”
One failure was noted after a review of a resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) stating that the resident “requires the extensive assistance of one staff member for bed mobility.” An observation was made of the resident at 3:08 PM on 01/13/2016 “lying in bed with bilateral quarter side rails raised at the head of the bed.
The state investigator reviewed the resident’s 10/20/2015 Side Rail Assessment and noted there was “no documentation of risk versus benefit for the use of side rails.”
- Failure to Provide Every Resident Environment Free of Abuse
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 01/14/2016, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to protect the residents by allowing a Certified Nursing Assistant at direct contact with residents after an allegation of abuse.”
The facility’s 05/20/2015 Abuse Investigation documented a specific allegation where a resident stated that a female Certified Nursing Assistant was mean to him and said that “one of the female CNA’s is very rough with them – she pulls his covers on the bed and roughly get him out of bed when she is caring for him.”
The state investigator interviewed the facility Director of Nursing on the morning of 01/12/2015 stated that [the alleged perpetrator now] works in a different hall after [the resident] had alleged [the staff member] was rough with care.”
If you believe your loved one suffered harm while a patient at Faith Care Center Highland, contact Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers now. Our Highland nursing home attorneys have successfully resolved many financial compensation claims for victims of abuse, mistreatment, and neglect in Illinois nursing facilities and held legally responsible those individuals in facilities responsible for causing the loved one harm.
We encourage you to contact our Madison County elder abuse law offices by calling (888) 424-5757 today to schedule your no obligation, initial case evaluation at no charge. You are not required to pay any upfront fees or retainers because we accept all nursing home abuse/neglect cases through contingency fee arrangements. This means payment for our legal fees are made only after we have successfully resolved your case in a jury trial or negotiated an out-of-court settlement on your behalf.
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