Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers Home
State and federal nursing home regulatory agencies develop and enforce strict policies on where and how nursing homes will investigate and report any abuse or allegation of abuse occurring in the facility. The policies are designed to protect the health and well-being of the resident and remove them from a dangerous situation and place them in a safe environment. Unfortunately, the Nokomis elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have handled many abuse cases where the resident’s health and well-being were in immediate jeopardy caused by the abusive actions of caregivers and other residents at the facility.
Nokomis Rehabilitation and Health Care Center is a 92-certified bed for profit Petersen Health Care network-affiliated nursing facility providing services to residents of Nokomis and Montgomery County, Illinois. The Medicaid/Medicare-participating facility is located at:
505 Stevens Street
Nokomis, Illinois 62075
(217) 563-7725
In addition to providing their Pathways Rehabilitation program, Nokomis Rehabilitation and Health Care Center also provides skilled nursing care and Alzheimer’s/memory care.
Nokomis Nursing Home Resident Safety ConcernsTo ensure that the American public has access to current information on every nursing facility in the United States, both the federal government and the state of Illinois routinely update their nursing home databases. The updated information includes currently filed complaints, opened investigations, safety concerns, and health violations. The results can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Nokomis Rehabilitation and Health Care Center maintains an overall two out of five available star rating in the national star rating summary system and comparative analysis tools. This includes four out of five stars for health inspections and one out of five stars for staffing issues and quality measures. Our Nokomis nursing home neglect attorneys have uncovered various deficiencies involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Report and Investigate Any Act or Allegation of Abuse, Neglect or Mistreatment of Residents
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 11/03/2015, a notation was made by a state investigator during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "thoroughly investigate injuries of unknown origin.” The deficient practice of the nursing staff at Nokomis Rehabilitation and Health Care Center involved one resident at the facility who “requires extensive assistance from two staff members for transferring and extensive assistance of one staff member for all ADLs (activities of daily living). The [resident’s] MDS (Minimum Data Set) cognitive status was not addressed.”
The failure was first noted at 6:30 AM on 10/01/2015 in the resident’s Nurse’s Notes that documented that a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) “noted a hematoma with bruising to [the resident’s] left forehead. [The resident] appeared to have bumped [their] head on the night stand when rolling over in bed. The area is raised and purple [...and the resident has] refused to allow an ice pack to be placed” over the bruised area.
A month later at 10:30 AM on 11/02/2015, the resident “was in her wheelchair in the television room… Leaning to her right side with a cushion supporting her right side [...and] head and upper torso was bent down in a fetal position leaning on the right side. At this time, [the resident’s] left forehead was noted with light pink discolorations and scabbing above [the resident’s] left temple and faint pink discoloration to [the resident’s] left inner orbital area.”
The state investigator interviewed the facility’s Administrator 8:35 AM that same morning who stated “there have been no abuse investigations since May 2015” at the facility.
An interview with a Registered Nurse at 10:40 AM that day revealed that “she did not know what happened to [the resident’s] left eye bruising [...and stated that the resident’s] forehead bruising might be from picking/scratching at the scabbed area.” Another staff member said that “no staff members saw anything happen [to the resident and that] the staff thought [the resident] hit her head on the nightstand, but no staff saw [the resident] hit her head or face.”
The investigator interviewed the facility’s Director of Nursing that same day at 10:55 AM who stated “she was aware of [the resident’s] left forehead and left eye bruising and stated that she [the Director of Nursing] was told [the resident] bumped her head in bed [...and further stated that] the facility does investigate injuries of unknown origins, but investigations are part of the Quality Assurance (QA) program and cannot be given out.” The Administrator also noted that “they did not investigate [the resident’s] forehead bruising because they did not feel it was abuse.”
If your loved one has suffered abuse or mistreatment while residing in any Illinois nursing facility, including Nokomis Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can assist you in obtaining the financial compensation you are likely entitled to receive. Our Montgomery County elder abuse attorneys can take steps to protect your loved one’s rights and hold those legally responsible for the abuse financially accountable.
To ensure that your case for compensation is fully financially resolved, we encourage you to contact our Nokomis Illinois nursing home abuse law firm at (888) 424-5757 today for your free, case evaluation. We accept all nursing home abuse cases through contingency fee agreements to avoid the need of paying any upfront fee.
http://www.petersenhealthcare.net/nokomis/
