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Families often place a loved one in a nursing home to ensure they receive the highest level of care by a competent nursing staff that follows established procedures and protocols. Unfortunately, many facilities failed to provide acceptable standards of care, especially those that use restraints on their residents without authorization or a signed informed consent. Sadly, the Jacksonville elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many individuals whose rights were stripped away when their caregivers used unauthorized physical and chemical restraints to avoid the need to continuously monitor and supervise the resident.
Heritage Health Jacksonville
Heritage Health Jacksonville is a 175-certified-bed “for-profit” Medicaid/Medicare-participating facility providing nursing services to residents of Jacksonville and Morgan County, Illinois. The Center is located at:
873 Grove St.
Jacksonville, IL 62650
(217) 479-3400
The facility provides long-term and short-term skilled nursing services along with respite care, hospice care, and occupational, respiratory, physical and speech therapies.
Jacksonville Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
The federal government and the state of Illinois regularly update their nursing home database systems to reflect the current history of all opened investigations, health violations, safety concerns and filed complaints on each facility in the United States. The updated information is used by families to make a well-informed decision before placing a loved one in a nursing home. The data is uploaded to numerous websites including Medicare.gov.
Heritage Health Jacksonville currently maintains an overall four out of five available star rating in the national Medicare star rating summary system. This includes four out of five stars for health inspections and quality measures and two out of five stars for staffing issues. However, our Jackson nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous safety concerns of deficiencies involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Provide Every Resident an Environment Free of Unauthorized Physical Restraints
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 06/01/2016, a state surveyor made a notation during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "provide medical symptoms, assess risks versus benefits and assess for least restricted measures for the use of reclining geriatric wheelchairs and lap tray.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff affected three residents “reviewed for restraints.”
One failure involved a resident diagnosed with unspecified kyphosis (rounding of the back) and dementia who was “amatory with assistance and is severely cognitively impaired.” The investigator reviewed the resident’s 03/22/2016 Care Plan documents focus areas concerning falls that stated “Transfers and ambulate with one assist. Up to reclining geriatric wheelchair with the assist of one. May used tabletop as needed.”
The state investigator observed the resident between 9:15 AM and 11:15 AM on 05/25/2016 “in her reclining chair, and the common area was staff close by. Her lap tray was in place.” At 11:15 AM that same day, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) ambulated the resident “from her reclining geriatric wheelchair next to her bed, to the bathroom, in her room [while stating that the resident] ‘can walk with help. Sometimes I even walk her in the hallway when she is agitated. She always walks from her chair to the bathroom’.” Once the resident was done with toileting, the CNA place the resident “back in her reclining wheelchair and a lap tray was placed in front of her… secured in the back of the chair.” The investigator noted that the resident “could not remove her lap tray.”
The investigator wrote that “there was no therapy evaluation for the use of a reclining wheelchair in [the resident’s] medical record. There is no documented assessment regarding the risks versus benefits for the use of [the] lap tray and reclining wheelchair in [the resident's] medical record.” As a part of the investigation, the investigator interviewed the facility’s Director of Nurses on the afternoon of 05/25/2016 who stated that “we never considered the reclining chairs or lap tray to be restraints [but] consider them positioning devices. We have not done any assessments on them.”
It was noted that the actions by the nursing staff at Heritage Health Jacksonville failed to follow the facility’s 11/10/2015 Restraint Program Policy and Procedure that reads in part:
“Prior to the use of a restraint, (unless the restraint is used in an emergency situation) each resident is assessed for potential alternatives by using the restraint Pre-restraining and Quarterly Evaluation UDA.” Documentation of alternatives are then listed in the resident’s Plan of Care… Reduction attempts are documented.”
A second failure involved another resident with an updated 04/12/2016 Care Plan that states “if the resident is not up to the table, reclining geriatric wheelchair is to be in the reclined position.” Once again, the investigator noted that this resident’s “medical record documents that there was no therapy evaluation for the use of the reclining wheelchair, there was no risk versus benefits provided to the family and no consent for the use of restraints.”
Jacksonville Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one has been abused, neglected or mistreated while residing in any nursing home in Illinois, including Heritage Health Jacksonville, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can provide immediate legal assistance. Our Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys can protect your loved one’s rights and handle the entire process of obtaining the financial compensation your family deserves for your damages.
Call our Morgan County elder abuse law firm today at (888) 424-5757 to schedule a no-obligation, free case evaluation. No upfront fees are required.
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6000756FI06012016.PDF
http://www.heritageofcare.com/jacksonville.htmlhttp://www.heritageofcare.com/jacksonville.html
