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Many residents staying in nursing facilities in Illinois are cognitively impaired and lack the ability to make rational decisions. Because of that, the staff is required to take appropriate measures to ensure these residents remain safe in their environment at all times. Unfortunately, many nurses lack the special training required to guarantee the resident safety. Sadly, the Round Lake Beach elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have represented many residents who have suffered life-changing conditions due to the negligent actions of the nursing staff.
Hillcrest Retirement Village
Hillcrest Retirement Village is a 144 certified-bed for profit Medicare/Medicaid-accepting nursing facility providing services to residents of Round Lake Beach and Lake County, Illinois. The facility is located at:
1740 N. Circuit Dr.
Round Lake Beach, Illinois 60073
(847) 546-5300
In addition to providing physical, occupational and speech therapies, Hillcrest Retirement Village also offers skilled nursing, hospice care, and palliative services.
Round Lake Beach Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Nearly all information on every nursing facility in the United States is publicly available on numerous websites including Medicare.gov. The sites provide the most recently opened investigations, filed complaints, health violations, and safety concerns.
Currently, Hillcrest Retirement Village maintains an overall three out of five available star rating in the Medicare national star rating summary system. This includes three out of five stars for health inspections and two out of five stars for staffing issues and quality measures. Our Round Lake Beach nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous complaints and safety concerns involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Ensure That Every Resident Remains Free from Accident Hazards and Risks and Is Provided Adequate Supervision to Prevent Avoidable Accidents
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 09/16/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to ensure medication carts were secured one left unattended. The open medication cart was accessible to cognitively impaired wandering residents in the facility.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff at Hillcrest Retirement Village affected four residents at the facility “reviewed for safety and supervision.”
One incident was first noted at 10:00 AM on 09/16/2015 when the state investigator reviewed a facility-provided list showing 32 residents in the facility “as cognitively impaired wandering residents in the dining room at the time the medication cart was unsecured and unattended.”
The previous day at 7:36 AM on 09/15/2015, a Registered Nurse at the facility was observed “administering medication in the dining room and the cart was unlocked and not in her line of vision.” One of the resident’s “was wandering around the unsecured cart unnoticed by staff.” Later that morning at 8:30 AM, the same Registered Nurse “left the medication cart unlocked in the dining room and walked down the 200 Hall.”
The Registered Nurse then “administered medication to [a resident] in his room and walked back to the dining room. The medication cart was left unattended during this time.” The state investigator noted that the actions of the nursing staff at Hillcrest Retirement Village failed to follow established federal and state nursing home regulations and the facility’s June 2015 policy titled: Medication Cart Policy that reads in part:
“The medication cart will be like each time the nurse does not have a direct line of vision to the cart [...and] when the medication cart is not in use.”
- Failure to Develop, Implement, and Enforce Programs That Investigates, Controls and Keeps Infection from Spreading
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 09/16/2015, the investigator noted the facility’s failure “to clean a glucose machine in a manner to prevent the possible cross-contamination of blood-born infections.” The deficient practice directly affected two residents at the facility “reviewed for infection control.”
On the morning of 09/15/2015 11:19 AM, a Registered Nurse at the facility “performed a blood glucose check on [a resident and then] return to the medication cart and did not clean the machine or wash/sanitize hands.” 15 minutes later at 11:34 AM, the same Registered Nurse “took the same glucometer machine and went to [another resident’s] room and performed a blood glucose check [again without cleaning] the glucometer or sanitizing her hands and continued to perform [blood glucose checks] Accuchecks on [2 other residents] with the same machine.”
The investigator noted that the actions of the nurse at the facility failed to follow established procedures and protocols by nursing home regulatory agencies and the facility’s July 2015 policy title: Blood Glucose Cleaning/Disinfecting Policy that reads in part:
“Sanitize hands then put on gloves before removing a germicidal wipe from the canister. Thoroughly wet the exterior of the blood glucose monitoring system with a germicidal wipe. Note the observed contact time of the germicidal wipe to ensure the service of the blood glucose monitoring system stays wet for the required five minutes [to ensure contaminants are killed].”
Round Lake Beach Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one has been injured through abuse, mistreatment or neglect while residing at any Illinois nursing facility, including Hillcrest Retirement Village, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can help. Our Lake County elder abuse attorneys can work on your behalf to obtain the financial compensation you deserve for your losses, damages, and harm.
We encourage you to contact our Round Lake Beach Illinois nursing home abuse law firm today at (888) 424-5757 to schedule a no obligation, free case evaluation. No upfront payment is required because we accept every personal injury claim for compensation on contingency.
- Failure to Develop, Implement, and Enforce Programs That Investigates, Controls and Keeps Infection from Spreading
