Did you admit your loved one into a nursing facility to ensure they receive the best care? Many nursing home residents become the victim of mistreatment or neglect at the hands of caregivers or other patients who are victimized through physical or sexual assault.
Was your loved one harmed, mistreated, neglected, abused, sexually assaulted or die unexpectedly while residing in a Sangamon County nursing home? If so, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal intervention. Our team of lawyers have investigated hundreds of mistreatment cases throughout Illinois and can help your family too. We use criminal and civil tort law to seek justice and obtain financial compensation to recover your damages. Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Aperion Care Capitol, contact our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers.
This facility is a "for profit" center providing services to residents of Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois. The Medicare and Medicaid 251-certified bed long-term care (LTC) home is located at:
555 West Carpenter
Springfield, Illinois, 62702
(217) 525-1880
In addition to providing around-the-clock long-term skilled nursing care, Aperion Care Capitol also offers:
Illinois and federal government agencies have the legal responsibility of monitoring every nursing home and imposing monetary fines or denying reimbursement payments through Medicare if investigators identify serious violations and deficiencies. These penalties are typically imposed when the violation is severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Over the last three years, surveyors imposed harsh penalties against Aperion Care Capitol on two occasions including a $12,028 fine on September 9, 2017, and a $30,000 fine on July 14, 2016, for a total of $42,028. Also, the facility received thirty-nine formally filed complaints and self-reported two serious issues that all resulted in citations. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Information on every intermediate and long-term care home in the state can be reviewed on government-owned and operated database websites including the Medicare.gov and the Illinois Department of Public Health site. These regulatory agencies routinely update the comprehensive list of opened investigations, incident inquiries, dangerous hazards, health violations, filed complaints, and safety concerns on facilities statewide.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, two out of five stars for staffing issues and two out of five stars for quality measures. The Sangamon County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Aperion Care Capitol that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 16, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “prevent a resident from developing a Stage IV pressure ulcer and failed to follow physician’s orders.” The investigators reviewed a resident’s admittance records and facility Wound Report dated May 8, 2018, that revealed the resident “developed a facility-acquired pressure ulcer on April 24, 2018, to her right heel.”
The resident’s Stage IV pressure ulcer “measured 1.3 cm x 0.7 cm with an undetermined depth. The document also shows that the pressure wound was 50% necrotic (dead tissue) and 50% granulation.” The resident’s wound doctor recommended, “offload the wound with float heels in bed.”
However, a review of the resident’s Care Plan dated June 26, 2018 “does not document off-loading the wound and float heels in bed or heel boots to bilateral lower extremities at all times.” An observation of a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) was conducted on July 9, 2018, when the LPN “removed the blankets on the resident’s legs.”
During the observation, it was revealed that the resident’s “right heel is on the bed; the foam floater is on top of her leg.” The LPN stated, “Yes, her heel should be floated, her left leg has the heel boots and that one should be on the right leg as well. The floater should have been under her leg to float her heel. I do not know why she does not have the heel boots on her right heel; it should be on it all the time.”
Observations of the resident were made the following morning on June 10, 2018, while a resident “is resting in bed, both [her] right and left heel boots are on the roommate’s dresser, not on [the resident’s] heels” according to the physician’s orders. The investigators interviewed the Wound Doctor that afternoon who stated the resident “should have the heal boots on all the time to offload the heals.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Policy and Procedure for Pressure Injury and Skin Condition Assessment dated November 28, 2012, and revised on January 17, 2018, that reads in part:
“Purpose: To establish guidelines for assessing, monitoring and documenting the presence of skin breakdown, pressure injuries, and other ulcers and assuring interventions are implemented.”
“The resident’s Care Plan will be revised as appropriate, to reflect alterations of skin integrity, approaches and goals for care.”
A separate incident was also documented in the same deficiency report after investigators reviewed the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set). That resident’s MDS documented that the resident had “two unstageable deep tissue injuries” and “is at risk for pressure ulcers.” The resident’s Wound Care Specialist Evaluation dated May 15, 2018, revealed: “a wound to the right posterior thigh [was] resolved.”
That resident’s Care Plan dated June 27, 2018, showed “potential for impairment to skin integrity related to decreased mobility, fragile skin, incontinence, spinal stenosis and [other medical conditions].” The document also guided the nursing staff to “turn and reposition with care every two hours and as needed.”
The state surveyors observed the transfer of the resident to a wheeled high back chair on the morning of July 10, 2018, at 9:05 AM. Between that time and 11:46 AM, at 15-minute intervals, the resident “remained in the room and in his chair.”
A third resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) documents that the resident is “always incontinent of bowel, at risk for pressure ulcers.” That resident was observed being transferred at 8:55 AM on July 10, 2018 “to a wheeled high back chair by a full mechanical lift.” The surveyors observed the resident at 15-minute intervals between 8:55 AM through 11:45 AM while the resident “remained in the room in the chair.”
During an interview with the Director of Nursing, it was stated that “she had asked staff to assure residents were turned and repositioned.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Pressure Ulcer Preventions dated January 15, 2018, that reads in part:
“Purpose: To prevent and treat pressure sores/pressure injury. Turn dependent resident approximately every two hours or as needed and position the resident with a pillow or pads to protect bony prominences as indicated.”
“Use positioning devices or pillows, rolled blankets, etc. to reduce pressure and friction/shearing from heals, toes and malleoli [bony prominences] as indicated.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated September 29, 2017, the survey team noted that the nursing home had “failed to timely identify, provide treatment as ordered and failed to timely turn/reposition for pressure ulcer treatment and prevention.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved four of six residents “reviewed for pressure ulcers.”
One incident involved a severely cognitively impaired resident who requires “extensive assistance of two staff for bed mobility and total assist of two for transfer/bathing.” The resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) also documents that the resident “is always incontinent of bowel and bladder.”
The investigators reviewed the resident’s Wounds Specialist Sheet dated April 17, 2017, revealing that the resident has “a right heel ulcer identified as being an unstageable ulcer with necrosis [dead tissue] measuring 6.5 cm x 7.0 cm, serous exudate moderate amount. The wound bed description documents granulation with necrosis at 90%, wound edges attached, surrounding skin intact. The treatment was to cleanse, skin prep, silver alginate, with cover with foam and apply a gauze wrap daily.”
The investigators interviewed a Registered Nurse (RN)/Wound/Treatment Nurse and the Director of Nursing who “were unable to state why the staff including Certified Nursing Aides (CNAs) did not identify [the wound] before it became necrotic given that [the resident] requires extensive assist of two staff for all activities of daily living.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 16, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “safely transfer a resident using a full body mechanical lift, [and] safely provide the resident care when using a partial body mechanical lift.” The nursing home also “failed to provide a safe environment for [three] residents reviewed for resident care.”
Observations were made of two Certified Nursing Aides on the morning of July 10, 2018, who “attached the sling to the full body mechanical lift, raised [the resident] up above the bed and over and above the wheelchair and lowered her down to the wheelchair.” Both CNAs “did not stop and check the straps at any time.”
Later that afternoon, two other Certified Nursing Aides transferred the resident “using a partial mechanical lift to the bathroom, [and] lowered her to the toilet. When [the resident] was finished toileting, [both CNAs raised the resident] up from the toilet and perform perineal care without locking the wheels to the machine. While [the CNAs were] cleaning the resident, the partial mechanical lift was moving side to side.”
The investigators interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who stated that “all staff has been trained to use the mechanical lifts and I know they have been told to check the straps before transferring.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 16, 2018, a state survey team documented the nursing home's failure to “wash hands between glove changes and dressing changes for five of twenty residents reviewed for infection control.”
An observation was made of the Assistant Director of Nursing on the morning of July 10, 2018, who entered a resident’s room and “did not wash her hands and donned gloves.” The Assistant Director administered medications to the resident intravenously through the resident’s “peripherally inserted central catheter line (PICC line).”
The Assistant Director “completed administering medication to [the resident], removed her gloves, and exited the room.” The Assistant Director “did not wash her hands before exiting the room [and entering another resident’s room].”
Do you suspect your loved one is being abused or neglected while they were a resident at Aperion Care Capitol? If so, call the Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Sangamon County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Springfield. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
For years, our attorneys have successfully resolved nursing home abuse cases just like yours. Our experience can ensure a positive outcome in your claim for compensation against those that caused your loved one harm. We accept every case concerning wrongful death, nursing home abuse, and personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement will postpone payment of our legal services until after our lawyers have resolved your case through a negotiated settlement or jury trial award.
Our network of attorneys offers every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation to recover your family’s damages. Our team of attorneys can begin working on your behalf today to make sure you are adequately compensated for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Jonathan Rosenfeld
Licensed in Illinois
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home