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Many families place their loved one in a nursing facility to ensure they receive the highest level of care and assistance to maintain their hygiene around-the-clock. Many residents suffer from incontinence of their bowels and bladder and require ongoing assistance with toileting throughout the day and night. Unfortunately, the Sandwich elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many residents who have suffered serious life-threatening infections caused by a lack of quality incontinence care by the nursing staff.
Many facilities in Illinois are overcrowded, understaffed or fail to provide adequate training to the nursing staff to assist residents who require help with their hygiene. Failing to follow protocols can cause serious problems including the development of urinary tract infections (UTIs) bedsores, open wounds, and skin problems.
Willow Crest Nursing PavilionWillow Crest Nursing Pavilion is a 113-certified bed Medicaid/Medicare-participating for-profit nursing facility providing services to residents of Sandwich and DeKalb, Kendall and LaSalle Counties. The facility is located at:
515 North MainSandwich Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Sandwich, Illinois 60548
(815) 786-8426
In an effort to keep families informed of where to place a loved one in a nursing facility, the state of Illinois and the federal government routinely update their nursing home databases to reflect currently filed complaints, opened investigations, health violations, and safety concerns. The updated information can be found numerous sites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion maintains an overall one out of five available star rating in the national star rating summary comparison analysis tool system. This includes two out of five stars for quality measures and staffing issues and one out of five stars for health inspections. Our Sandwich nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous complaints and safety concerns involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Assist Residents Who Require Help with Eating/Drinking, Personal, Grooming and Oral Hygiene
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 04/19/2016, a state surveyor made a notation during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "ensure the resident was toileted to prevent incontinence.” The state investigator also noted the facility’s failure “to provide peri-care to a resident who was incontinent of urine.” One incident involved a review of a resident’s 01/18/2016 MDS (Minimum Data Set) revealing that the resident “has severe cognitive impairment and requires extensive assistance with transfers, dressing, hygiene and toileting [...and] is incontinent of urine and stool.”
Upon observation at 9:22 AM on 04/12/2016, the resident was seen “sitting in a gown, on a low bed, with her bare feet resting in a puddle of urine on a fall mat on the floor by her bed.” The resident’s “blankets, incontinence pads, gown, and fitted sheet was saturated with urine.” The Wound Nurse providing the resident care attempted to get the resident “to lay down and the resident said ‘oh, that’s very wet, I’m so wet’.” At that time, the Wound Nurse “folded the resident’s incontinence pads under to hide the wet area and attempted to lay [the resident] back into bed and cover her with blankets.” However, the resident said, “it’s wet all the way up here and attempted to sit back up.”
Another observation was made of the resident two days later at 11:50 AM on 04/14/2016 when a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) transferred the resident “from her wheelchair to a standing position in the bathroom.” The Certified Nursing Assistant removed the resident’s “saturated incontinence brief, and [the resident] was urinating down her leg, and onto the floor as [the CNA] transferred her to the toilet.” The Certified Nursing Assistant wiped the urine off of the floor before placing a clean incontinence brief and pad on the resident while noting that the brief was significantly saturated.
An interview with the facility’s Wound Nurse at 11:45 AM on 04/14/2016, it was revealed that “the CNA should physically attempt to take [the resident] to the bathroom and not just ask her she needs to go.” A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) said at 12:10 PM the same day that the resident “should be taken to the bathroom every two hours, as needed, and before and after meals.”
The investigator noted the actions of the nursing staff at Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion failed to follow the facility’s November 2013 policy titled Urinary Incontinence – Clinical Protocol that reads in part:
“As appropriate, based on an assessment of the category and causes of incontinence, the staff will provide scheduled toileting, prompted voiding, or other intervention to try to improve the individual’s incontinent status.”
If you believe your loved one has suffered an avoidable infection while residing at any Illinois nursing facility including Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can immediately intervene. Our LaSalle County elder abuse attorneys can protect your loved one’s rights and ensure they receive the highest level of medical care to minimize their injuries and start on the road to recovery.
To ensure your family receives the financial compensation they deserve, we urge you to contact our Sandwich Illinois nursing home abuse law firm today at (888) 424-5757. We accept all personal injury claims for compensation, wrongful death lawsuits and nursing home abuse cases through contingency fee arrangements. This means there are no fees paid to our firm until we negotiate your out-of-court settlement or win your case at trial.
