Sadly, many residents in nursing facilities become the victim of mistreatment, abuse or neglect at the hands of caregivers or other residents. Sometimes, the nursing home fails to follow standards or protocol in hiring properly train nursing staff or does not provide adequate supervision that can lead to substandard care.
Was your loved one mistreated while residing in a Cook County nursing facility? If so, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal intervention. Our team of lawyers have represented many victims of nursing home abuse, neglect and mistreatment to ensure their families are adequately compensated for their damages.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Aperion Care International, contact our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers.
Contact us now so we can begin working on your case today. Our team is experienced in using the law to ensure that those at fault for the harm are held accountable for their unacceptable actions.
This Medicare and Medicaid-approved long-term care (LTC) center is a 218-certified bed "for profit" Home providing services to residents of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. The facility is located at:
4815 South Western Ave
Chicago, Illinois, 60609
(773) 927-4200
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Aperion Care International also offers short-term rehab, long-term living solutions, and psychiatric rehabilitation.
Federal and Illinois state investigators have a legal obligation to penalize any nursing home that violated a regulation that harmed or could have harmed a resident. These penalties typically include an imposed monetary fines or denial of payment for Medicare services.
Within the last three years, state and federal regulators have not impose any monetary fines against Aperion Care International. However, Medicare did deny payment for services on February 5, 2018. The nursing home also received thirty-five 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.
The Illinois and federal government nursing home regulatory agencies routinely update their care home database system. This system contains the complete list of all incident inquiries, opened investigations, filed complaints, dangerous hazards, health violations, and safety concerns. This information can be found at Medicare.gov and online at the IL Department of Public Health website.
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 three out of five stars for quality measures. The Cook County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Aperion Care International that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 8, 2018, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure housekeeping cleaning equipment was properly sanitized [after] contact with one resident in an isolation room and [before] contact with another room housing two residents.”
The surveyor said that the nursing home also failed to “ensure [a] washing machine in the laundry reaches 160° hot water temperature as described in the facility’s policy and procedure on linen handling. This deficient practice has the potential to affect all 160 residents in the facility.”
Surveyors observed a resident in contact isolation due to an infectious disease. Documentation shows of the resident “at one point was taken off isolation and then with recurrence of the diarrhea was placed back on contact isolation as is noted on June 5, 2018.” A Progress Note dated five days earlier on May 31, 2018 describes the resident “as having watery, loose stools two times when [their medication] started.”
Observations were made of a housekeeper at the facility at 9:00 AM on June 6, 2018 cleaning the resident’s room. The housekeeper “entered the resident’s room with personal protective equipment [PPE], a mop, broom and dustpan. Touching numerous objects throughout the room including bathroom surfaces, [the housekeeper] touches the mop, broom, and dustpan handle.”
After the housekeeper had completed cleaning the resident’s room, the employee left “the room without disinfecting the mop, broom and dustpan handle.” The housekeeper then proceeded to two other residents’ room using “the same mop, broom, and dustpan to clean [their] room.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyors interviewed the Director of Housekeeping said that the housekeeper was “supposed to rinse/wiped the broom, dustpan, and mop handles with bleach.” The Director explained that “whenever [the employee comes] out of the room [and comes into contact with any contagious resident, they are] supposed to wipe the handle of the broom, mop, and dustpan.”
The Director of Housekeeping said that the housekeeper was “spreading [contamination] by going to another room; cross-contamination.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 11, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “develop a plan to manage to reduce the incidence of breakthrough pain for one of nine residents” reviewed for “comprehensive pain management.”
During observations, a surveyor talked with the resident on May 8, 2017 who said that “it feels like something is jabbing me in my rectum.” The resident repeated the complaint regarding rectal pain to the Third Floor Unit Nurse who acknowledged the resident’s “pain and stated in part [that the resident] has behaviors and complains about that pain every day. The staff checks [the resident] for impaction. Sometimes the staff’s actions are documented and sometimes the staff’s actions are not documented.”
The following day at 9:49 AM, the resident again “complained of a jabbing pain in the rectum.” At that time, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) was in the resident’s room and acknowledged that the resident was complaining of rectal pain stating that “the resident has had complained of rectal pain every day.”
A few hours later at 1:57 PM, the resident again “complained of a jabbing pain to the rectum” as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) held the resident “on her right side in preparation for [a] dressing change.” At that time, the resident “moaned, yelled, flinched her body, and stated ‘it feels like something is pushing me in my rectum.’” In response, a wound nurse asked the resident “if she was in pain [before] starting the dressing change.” The resident responded, “I cannot be in any more pain than I am already in.”
During the observation, the resident was asked about the frequency of the pain and said “the pain comes and goes. I waited to get this old to be mistreated.” While the Licensed Practical Nurse was providing a dressing change the resident’s left buttock, the resident “moaned again, had multiple facial grimaces and stated it hurts.” The resident continued to moan, flinch her body, “and had multiple facial grimaces throughout the dressing change procedure.”
Both the CNA and the Licensed Practical Nurse acknowledged that the resident was moaning and had facial grimaces and flinched her body.
After the procedure, the Licensed Practical Nurse said that they had given the resident Tylenol but that the resident “has ongoing complaints regarding something jabbing [her] in her rectum.” The LPN said that the resident’s “behavior for that complaint has been charted.”
A few minutes later, the resident said that “in part, she cannot eat sometimes because of the rectal pain” saying that the pain “also affects her sleep sometimes.” The resident states that when she tells the CNAs, they say that “they are going to tell the nurses about [the] rectal pain.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who said that “when a resident complains of pain, the nurse should document the complaint in a Nurse Note. Nurses are responsible for identifying, treating and re-evaluating a resident’s pain. If the pain medication is ineffective, the nurse should call the physician to see if additional pain medications can be ordered.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 11, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility failed to “develop a plan of care for identified fall risks with interventions to prevent or reduce the risk of falls.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “reviewed for fall prevention protocol.”
The survey team said that the deficient practice by the nursing staff resulted in the resident “being sent to the local hospital” for treatment. Observations were made of the resident on the morning of May 8, 2017 “with two areas of discoloration with intact skin, above [the resident’s] left eyebrow.”
The survey team reviewed the female resident’s Fall Risk Assessment indicating the resident “is at risk for falls, has intermittent confusion, is chair-bound, [and] requires the use of assistive devices for balance/gait.”
A family member stated that they had “received a call from [a Licensed Practical Nurse] on April 8, 2017, around 4:30 AM.” The LPN said that they had gone into the resident’s room and the resident sat up. The LPN saw “an injury to [the resident’s] left eye” before contacting the resident’s physician, “who gave orders to send [the resident] to a local hospital emergency room since [the resident] incurred a head injury.”
When asked, the LPN could not tell the family member “any details regarding how [the resident’s] incurred the eye injury. The local hospital staff said [that the resident] had an injury above the left eye” that required three stitches.
Documentation shows that the nursing home performs an investigation telling the family members that the resident “got up in the middle of the night” and injured their head on “the safety rail in the bathroom.” However, the family member said they had not seen the resident “go from the bed to the wheelchair” without assistance. The “local hospital staff also mentions something about [the resident] having a swollen knee.”
The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Fall Prevention Program dated January 2017 that reads in part:
“It is the policy of this facility to have a fall prevention program to assure the safety of all residents in the facility, when possible. The program will include measures which determine the individual needs of each resident by assessing the risk of falls and implementation of appropriate interventions to provide that necessary supervision and assistive devices are utilized as necessary.”
“Safety interventions will it be implemented for each resident identified at risk using a standard protocol.”
“The admitting nurse and assigned CNA are responsible for initiating safety precautions at the time of the admission. All assigned nursing personnel are responsible for ensuring ongoing precautions are put in place and consistently maintained.”
“Residents will be observed approximately every two hours to ensure the resident is safely positioned in the bed or chair and provided care as assigned [by] the plan of care.”
If your loved one has suffered an injury or died prematurely while a resident at Aperion Care International, call Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Cook County victims who were mistreated while living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Chicago. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Allow our reputable attorneys to handle every aspect of your compensation claim against individuals or entities that caused harm to your loved one. Our years of experience in handling nursing home abuse recompense claims can ensure a successful resolution of your case. Our attorneys accept every case concerning wrongful death, personal injury and nursing home abuse through a contingency fee arrangement. This agreement postpones the need to to pay for legal services until after your case is successfully resolved through a jury trial award or negotiated out of court settlement.
We provide every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing if we cannot obtain compensation on your behalf. We can start on your case today to ensure you receive compensation for your damages. All information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Attorney Jonathan Rosenfeld
Licensed in Illinois
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home