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Many families place a loved one in a nursing facility to ensure their safety and well-being. Unfortunately, due to overcrowding, understaffing, and a failure to follow protocols and procedures, many nursing home residents wander away from the facility every year. Sadly, the Davenport elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many families whose loved one has wandered away from a nursing home, which led to serious harm and even death.
The care and well-being of a nursing home resident are entrusted to the facility to ensure that the staff members provide the highest level of care, supervision, and attention they require. Some residents require constant monitoring and a higher level of assistance to ensure they do not elope when given the chance. Wandering away from the nursing home places the safety of the resident in immediate jeopardy due to their susceptibility to being assaulted, falling, or exposed to harsh weather and excessively cold/hot temperatures.
Manor Care Health ServicesManor Care Health Services is a 105-certified bed Medicare/Medicaid-participating for-profit nursing facility providing services to residents of Davenport/Scott County and Moline/Rock Island County. The Heartland/Medicare Corporation facility is located at:
815 E. Locust St.
Davenport, Iowa 52803
(563) 324-3276
Manor Care Health Services provides residential care services along with dementia care, nursing home care, independent living, assisted living, cardiac care, orthopedic injury or replacement care, neurological care and pulmonary care.
Davenport Nursing Home Resident Safety ConcernsOn a routine basis, state and federal nursing home regulatory agencies update their nursing home databases to reflect currently opened investigations, health violations, safety concerns and filed complaints against facilities all across the United States. The updated information is posted on various websites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, ManorCare Health Services in Davenport Illinois maintains an overall one out of five available star rating compared with other facilities nationwide. This includes two out of five stars for both quality measures and staffing issues one out of five stars for health concerns. Our Davenport nursing home neglect attorneys have found a serious complaint leading to immediate jeopardy that involved:
- Failure to Provide Every Resident an Environment Free of Accident Hazards and Failure to Provide Adequate Supervision to Ensure Their Safety and Prevent an Accident from Occurring
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 06/11/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to ensure each resident received adequate supervision to protect against hazards in the environment.” In one incident, the resident was identified as being “cognitively impaired and used a Wander Guard bracelet for his/her safety.”
On 06/07/2015, the resident “exited the facility and his/her wander guard device activated the door alarm was sounded to alert staff. Staff turned off the alarm and assume the alarm had been for visitors as staff could not distinguish the wander guard alarm sound from the door alarm sound. The nursing home later discovered they were unaware of [the resident’s] whereabouts and call the local police.”
The state investigator noted that the resident “had walked over two miles away from the nursing home with the outdoor temperature heat index of 91 degrees Fahrenheit (F).” During interviews with the staff members, it was revealed that “multiple staff could not accurately distinguish the difference between the wander guard alarm and door alarms prior to [the resident’s] elopement. In addition, staff did not search outside to determine whether any of the 16 residents that use Wander Guard bracelets had exited the nursing home. The findings constitute an immediate jeopardy to residents’ health and safety.”
As a part of the investigation, the state surveyor reviewed the resident’s 06/07/2015 3:50 PM Progress Notes that reveal “friends at the facility [came] to visit and [were] unable to locate [the resident]. The staff initiated a missing person protocol with notification to the family and physician.” At 4:30 PM the same day, the facility’s Incident Report revealed that the resident “eloped out the front door of the facility with the visitor. Upon return, the staff completed the nursing evaluation, pain evaluation, hydration evaluation and had pending lab work.”
The police narrative at 4:34 PM on 06/02/2015 revealed that officers were dispatched after receiving “a 911 emergency call reporting [the resident] wandered away from the facility and the facility looked for [the resident] for an hour. The report noted a person in the community called 911 and reported [the resident] appeared disoriented and did not have a cellular phone or any cash.” At that time, the resident “requested a ride to Rock Island Illinois. The police determined the description of [the resident] matched the description from the community member. The police noted that the resident had been wearing several layers of clothing.”
If your loved one suffered injuries due to wandering away from Manor Care Health Services or any other nursing facility, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can take steps to hold those liable financially and legally accountable. Our Scott County elder abuse attorneys have represented many victims and family members to ensure they receive the highest level of financial recompense they deserve.
To successfully resolve your claim for compensation, we urge you to contact our Davenport Iowa nursing home abuse law firm at (888) 424-5757 today to schedule a free, case evaluation. We accept all nursing home neglect, mistreatment, and abuse cases through contingency fee agreements, so no upfront payment is required.
