Rush University Medical Center Ratings & Violations

Rush University Medical Center is a 729-bed hospital providing care and services to the residents and visitors of Cook County, Illinois. The facility is located at:

1653 West Congress Parkway
Chicago IL 60612
(312) 942-5000

http://www.rush.edu/

The local hospital provides diverse services to the community with trained specialists that treat various conditions that include:

• Cardiology
• Primary care
• Pregnancy services
• Surgeries
• Women's health
• Orthopedic surgery
• Neurology
• Neurological surgery
• Internal medicine
• Infectious diseases
• Gynecological care
• Geriatric services
• Children's health
• Cancer Care
• Allergy and Immunology
• Gastroenterology
• Psychiatry
• Ophthalmology
• Lung cancer

Illinois State Designations

Rush University Medical Center has the following designations:

• Baby Friendly
• Perinatal III
• Magnet Recognition
• Comprehensive Stroke Center
• Emergency Department Approved for Pediatrics

Patient Safety

Both the federal government and the state of Illinois routinely monitor all hospitals and medical centers statewide to identify serious patient concerns quickly. According to data supplied by the hospital to the Illinois Department of Health and other agencies, Rush University Medical Center reported the following medical errors that may be of concern to patients and their families.

• Surgical Site Infections Associated with Total Replacement Surgery (2017) with six reported infections out of 1598 Procedures.


• Healthcare Facility Onset Incident Rate of MRSA Infections (2017) with eleven reported infections involving methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections over 159640 patient days


• Healthcare Facility Onset Incident Rate of CDI (2017) with 69 reported highly contagious Clostridium difficile infections over 144286 patient days. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, this statistical rate is significantly worse than the national average.


• Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in the:
  
  
  • Adult Neural Surgical ICU (2018) with zero reported infections out of over 1309 central-line days
  
  
  • Adult Medical Cardiac ICU (2018) with two reported infections out of over 2100 central-line days
  
  
  • Adult Surgical ICU (2018) with five reported infections out of over 4656 central-line days
  
  
  • Adult Medical ICU (2018) with five reported infections out of over 3736 central-line days
  
  
  • Pediatric Medical-Surgical ICU (2018) with five reported infections out of over 2867 central-line days
  
  
  • Level III Neonatal ICU (2018) with six reported infections out of over 3476 central-line days

Safety Concerns

• Unexpected Deaths (2015) two of 5196 patients


• Postoperative Lung Embolism or Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT clotting) for 2015 – 59 of 11,082 patients


• Wound Complications in Abdominal Wall Surgery (2015) one of 1253 patients


• Accidental Puncture and Laceration (2015) 25 of 25,286 patients


• Medical Care-Associated Collapsed Lung (2015) eight of 24,933 patients


• Postoperative Hemorrhage or Hematoma (2015) 52 of 10,398 patients


• Inpatient Bypass Graft Death Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate (2015) one out of 119 patients


• Inpatient Heart Attack Deaths Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate (2015) 11 of 241 patients


• Pneumonia Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate (2015) seven of 271 patients


• Stroke Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate (2015) 98 of 936 patients


• Congestive Heart Failure Risk-Adjusted Mortality Rate (2015) 13 of 675 patients


• Pneumonia Patients Admitted to the Hospital within 30 days (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 15.6% of all patients treated at the facility for pneumonia were readmitted to the facility 30 days after departure for retreatment. This statistical percentage is slightly lower than the national average (16.9%) and Illinois average (17.37%).


• Pneumonia 30 Day Mortality Rate (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 12.4% of all patients treated for pneumonia at the facility died within 30 days. This statistical rate is slightly lower than the national average (15.9%) and Illinois average (15.98%).


• Heart Failure Patients Readmitted to the Facility within 30 Days (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 24.9% of all patients treated for heart failure were readmitted to the facility within 30 days after discharge. This statistical rate is significantly higher than the national average (21.6%) and Illinois average (21.78%).


• Heart Failure 30 Day Mortality Rate (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 8% of all patients treated for heart failure at the facility died within 30 days. This statistical rate is significantly lower than the national average (11.9%) and Illinois average (11.67%).


• Heart Attack Patient Readmitted to the Facility within 30 Days (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 17.3% of all patients treated at the hospital for heart attack were readmitted to the facility 30 days after discharge for retreatment. The statistical percent is slightly higher than the national average (16.3%) and Illinois State average (16.4%).


• Heart Attack 30 Day Mortality Rate (between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018) – 15.3% of all patients treated for a heart attack at the facility died within 30 days after admittance. The statistical rate is slightly higher than the national average (13.6%) and Illinois average (13.32 percent).

Sample Medical Malpractice Claims Involving Rush University Medical Center

$2,500,000 Settlement; Illinois Drug and IV Malpractice Claim

In this medical cause of action, a woman in her late seventies decided to have knee surgery performed. The elective replacement operation was to take place at Rush University Medical Center. Prior to the procedure, she was prescribed Warfarin for a condition she had known as patent foramen ovale. However, according to documents later filed, staff took her off this just before surgery but did not offer her anything to bridge the gap. Consequently, she sustained an embolic stroke just a mere day later. The injury was catastrophic: she could not speak or use the right side of her body. As you might expect, representatives for the woman filed this action against the medical center. They complained that it was negligent and constituting malpractice to remove her medications without offering her anything else as a substitute. Further, they blamed this error for the complications that later resulted. The defendant replied but did not answer this main allegation in court. Rather, the parties found room to settle for a reported $2.5 million. That sum was to cover all of the woman’s harms including pain, disability, lost quality of life, and past and future medical bills.

$6,000,000 Settlement; Illinois Surgical Error Case

Here, a man in his late forties (48) entered the emergency room of Rush University Medical Center because he experienced a bout of vertigo. Doctors on call examined him and determined that he had a cerebral aneurysm. The physician recommended and subsequently performed a neuro-endovascular operation. However, in the course of that surgery, he caused the patient to suffer bleeding in his cranium due to the guide wire that he used. This eventually caused the man’s death. Later, it was revealed that this type of procedure was not a good choice for the patient and that an open craniotomy should have selected. This was determined by analyzing the small size and shape of the aneurysm. The doctor disagreed with this assessment. Nevertheless, the man’s family (three children and spouse) proceeded with their lawsuit against the hospital for malpractice, negligence, and wrongful death. They argued that similarly situated doctors would have chosen the craniotomy and that the defendant’s choice caused the man’s death. The hospital offered them $6 million to settle the litigation. The family accepted.

$1,450,000 Settlement; Illinois Birth Injury Lawsuit

This case was brought by a 22-year-old woman after she tragically lost her baby. She went to Rush University Medical Center because she could not feel her baby moving insider her. She was still pregnant at the time of these events. Staff at the emergency room conducted monitoring of the fetus. They generally found that the baby was fine. Yet, they also noticed oligohydramnios. This is a reduction in the normal level of amniotic fluid. Under ordinary circumstances, this would require the hospital to start regularly monitoring the baby. Instead, the mother was discharged and told to go home. She came back a few days later when the condition had not gotten better. By that point, the baby had fallen into a poor state of health and eventually passed away. The woman sued the doctor and hospital for negligence and wrongful death. She claimed that they should have monitored her and the baby once they noticed oligohydramnios. The defendants argued that they abided by the proper standard of care. However, they did not rely on this defense long. All parties settled for a reported total of $1.45 million. Rush gave $450,000 of that to the woman.

Chicago, Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you were seriously harmed while you were a patient at Rush University Medical Center, your damages might have been caused by medical negligence. The Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC fight aggressively on behalf of our clients who have suffered injuries by errors and mistakes in any medical settings.

Contact our attorneys today to schedule a free, no-obligation case consultation to discuss the merits of your compensation claim. Our legal team accepts all personal injury case, wrongful death lawsuit, and medical malpractice claim through contingency fee agreements. This arrangement postpones the payment of legal services until after we have successfully resolved your case through a jury trial or negotiated out of court settlement. All information you share with our law office remains confidential.

Sources:

• Rush University Medical Center
• Services & Conditions