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Any fall that occurs in a nursing facility has the potential of causing life altering injury to the resident. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are overcrowded, understaffed, or operated by nurses who lack proper training and supervision to ensure the safety and well-being of every resident. Sadly, the South Elgin elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many nursing home victims and family members who have lost loved ones due to a life-altering fall caused by the negligent actions of their caregivers.
Statistics released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that nursing homes averaging 100 beds report a minimum of 100 falls every year occurring inside their facility. While many of these falls are the result of gait (walking) problems and muscle weakness, the vast majority of falls are the result of environmental hazards including poor lighting, wet floors, improperly maintained/fitted wheelchairs or incorrect bed Heights.
South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare CenterSouth Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center is a 90-certified bed Medicare/Medicaid-participating for-profit nursing center providing services to residents of South Elgin and Kane County. The Petersen Health Properties-associated facility is located at:
746 W. Spring St.
South Elgin, Illinois 60177
(847) 697-0565
In addition to providing short-term and long-term care, South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center also provides Alzheimer’s care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation through their Pathways Program.
South Elgin Nursing Home Resident Safety ConcernsEach month, the federal government and state of Illinois update their nursing home databases to reflect the most currently available information on opened investigations, safety concerns, health violations and filed complaints involving facilities nationwide. The results are posted online on numerous websites including Medicare.gov that provides a comparative analysis star rating summary system so that families can determine the best location to place a loved one who requires a high level of quality nursing care and hygiene assistance.
Currently, South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center maintains an overall one out of five available star rating compared to other facilities in the United States. This includes three out of five stars for quality measures, two out of five stars for staffing issues one out of five stars for health concerns. Our South Elgin nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous health violations and safety concerns involving this facility. Two of those concerns include:
- Failure to Provide Residents an Environment Free of Accident Hazards and Risks and Failure to Provide Adequate Supervision to Prevent an Avoidable Accident
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 05/07/2015, a notation was made during an annual licensure and certification survey by a state investigator concerning the facility's failure to "investigate and analyze the root cause analysis of multiple falls in order to provide interventions that were resident-specific and to implement and modify the effectiveness of these interventions to prevent further falls.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff at South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center affected four residents at the facility.
As a part of the investigation, the state investigator reviewed the resident’s 04/14/2015 and 07/14/2015 MDS (Minimum Data Set) revealing that the resident “required extensive assist with two-person physical assist.” In addition, the resident’s 07/18/2014 CAA (Care Area Assessment) revealed that the resident “had cognitive deficits, late effect-speech deficit, history of frequent falls, balance is off, tends to fall backward, cerebral degeneration and ataxic gait.”
The investigator noted in an interview with a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) that the resident “had multiple falls because [the resident] does self-transfer and does not ask for assistance, is forgetful, confused and has poor safety awareness.” In addition, the facility’s Fall Incident/Events Report notes that the resident “had 20 falls from the period between 10/30/2014 to 04/30/2015.” However, the resident’s 07/16/2015 Care Plan is generic and does not provide any specific interventions.
- Failure to Ensure That Working Call Systems Are Available in Every Resident’s Room, Bathroom and Bathing Area
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 05/07/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to provide residents with accessible call lights.” An additional notation was made of the facility’s failure “to provide resident’s rooms with functioning/assessable call lights to allow residents to notify the nursing staff of their need for assistance.”
The deficient practice by the nursing staff, Maintenance Department and Administrator at South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center applied to one resident at the facility who was noted “lying in bed with call light strings, not in reach of their hands.” The state investigator also noted that at 10:50 AM on 04/04/2015 “the call light was triggered and the light in the hallway did not light up.” The facility’s Marketing Director was present in the hallway during the malfunctioning call light system.
If your loved one a suffered injury or death from a fall occurring due to negligence in any Illinois nursing facility, including South Elgin Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can assist you in seeking the financial compensation you deserve. Our Kane County elder abuse attorneys can assist you in filing for civil damages to hold those responsible for causing your loved one’s harm or death legally and financially accountable.
To successfully resolve your financial recompense case, we encourage you to contact our South Elgin Illinois nursing home abuse law offices today by calling (888) 424-5757 for a free, initial consultation. Because we accept all nursing home abuse cases on contingency, no upfront payment is required.
http://www.petersenhealthcare.net/south-elgin/
