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Any spread of infection occurring in a nursing facility could be detrimental to the health and well-being of every patient. Because of that, the nursing staff is required to follow established proven protocols that protect patients from contaminants, infections, viruses, and bacteria. Unfortunately, not every nursing facility follows these procedures, which is often to the detriment of the patient’s health. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many patients residing at Illinois nursing homes like Heritage Health – Normal who have suffered serious harm due to preventable infections.
Heritage Health – Normal
This Center is a 164-certified-bed ‘for-profit’ Nursing Home providing services and cares to residents of Normal and McLean County, Illinois. The Medicaid/Medicare-approved Nursing Facility is located at:
509 North Adelaide
Normal, IL 61761
(309) 452-7468
The facility provides long- and short-term skilled nursing care, respite care, and hospice care along with Restore Therapy, respiratory therapy, Restore-to-Home along with speech, physical and occupational therapies.
Normal Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
To ensure families are fully informed of the level of care every nursing home provides, the federal government and Illinois routinely update their nursing home database system. This information reflects a complete list of health violations, filed complaints, safety concerns and opened investigations that can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Heritage Health – Normal maintains an overall two out of five available star rating in the Medicare comparison analysis system compared to all other facilities nationwide. This includes four out of five stars for staffing concerns, two out of five stars for quality measures and one out of five stars for health inspections. The McLean County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have found health violations, deficiencies, and safety concerns occurring at this nursing home that include:
- Failure to Follow Procedures and Protocols to Eliminate the Spread of Infection
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 08/19/2016, a state survey team opened a complaint investigation against the facility for its failure to "practice hand hygiene during wound care for [a resident at the facility] reviewed for wound care.” The state investigator also noted the facility’s failure “to maintain a wound dressing.”
An observation was made of two Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) performing wound care for a resident. One LPN removed the resident’s “wound dressing soiled with serous drainage. With the same soiled gloves, [the LPN] cleansed [the resident’s] wounds. With new gloves, [the LPN] applied [medicated] gel to three separate open blister-like wounds and one closed wound using the same Q-tip applicator.”
The state investigator interviewed the Licensed Practical Nurse an hour and a half later who stated that they “should have changed [their] gloves after removing the old dressing [...and] stated ‘I probably should have used a clean Q-tip for each wound site. [The resident] has had several different types of blisters/rashes/pustules show up’.”
The state investigator determined that the actions by the nursing staff failed to follow the facility’s 04/24/2014 policy titled: Dressing Changes – Aseptic Technique that reads in part:
“Remove old dressing… Remove a disposable dressing. Wash hands. Apply clean gloves… If the resident has multiple sites requiring a dressing, treat each site separately [because] each site may be infected or colonized with a different organism, so each site must be addressed separately to prevent cross-contamination.”
- Failure to Provide a Safe Environment to Patients against Resident-to-Resident Assault
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 06/21/2016, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to prevent sexual aggression by one resident toward another resident.” Multiple eyewitness accounts documented that there were separate occurrences of sexual abuse by one resident toward another resident.
One incident occurred on 06/13/2016 when the staff “reported to the Administrator that a male resident was in the lounge area bent over a female resident and pinched her breast.” The assaulted resident “did not say anything.” The nursing staff told the abusive resident “that their actions were inappropriate.”
A Certified Nursing Assistant stated that “yes, a few times I saw [the assaulting resident] cupping [the other resident’s] breasts and attempt to kiss [the victim].”
The investigator noted that the actions of the assaulting perpetrator had occurred on multiple occasions and that the nursing staff and Administrator failed to follow the facility’s 04/23/2014 policy titled: Policy and Procedure Regarding Abuse and Neglect… Injuries of unknown origin that reads in part:
“All residents have the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse, corporal punishment, and involuntary seclusion.”
Normal Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your parent, grandparent or spouse has suffered injury or died prematurely while a patient at Heritage Health – Normal, call Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers now. Our knowledgeable Normal attorneys offer legal representation to patients with cases that involve neglect, abuse, and mistreatment occurring in Illinois nursing homes.
We encourage you and your family to contact our McLean County elder abuse law office today by calling (888) 424-5757 to schedule your appointment for a free comprehensive case review. No upfront retainers or fees are required because we accept every wrongful death lawsuit, personal injury case and nursing home abuse / neglect claim for compensation on contingency. This means we are paid for our fees only after we win your case at trial or negotiated an out of court settlement on your behalf.
Sources:
http://www.heritageofcare.com/normal
http://bit.do/RILnursing-Heritage-Health-Normal
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008510FA06212016.PDF
