Has your loved one been admitted to a nursing home to ensure they receive the highest level of skilled nursing care in a compassionate, safe environment? Are you concerned that your loved one has now become the victim of neglect, mistreatment or abuse at the hands of their caregivers, employees or other residents? If so, contact the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center Attorneys now for immediate legal intervention.
Our team of Illinois attorneys has successfully resolved financial compensation claims filed by Cook County nursing home residents, and we can help your family too. Call us now so we can begin working on your case today. We use the law to hold those responsible for harm both legally and financially accountable.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Arbour Health Care Center, contact our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyer.
This Medicare/Medicaid-approved nursing facility is a "for profit" home providing services to residents of Midlothian and Cook County, Illinois. The 91-certified bed long-term care center is located at:
3249 West 147Th Street
Midlothian, Illinois, 60445
(708) 389-3141
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Aperion Care Midlothian also offers various care options including psychiatric care, short-term rehabilitation, and long-term care.
The state of Illinois and the federal government are legally responsible for monitoring each nursing home. They are authorized to impose monetary fines and deny payments through Medicare if serious violations have been identified. These penalties are typically imposed when the violation is severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Within the last three years, the federal government imposed one monetary penalty against Aperion Care Midlothian for $7768 on January 6, 2017. Also, the nursing home received twenty-five formally filed complaints due to substandard care. Additional documentation about fines and penalties can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
To ensure families are fully informed of the level of care every nursing home provides, the state of Illinois routinely updates their long-term care home database system. This information reflects a complete list of safety concerns, health violations, opened investigations, filed complaints, dangerous hazards, and incident inquiries that can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov and the Illinois Department of Public Health website.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including two out of five stars concerning health inspections, one out of five stars for staffing issues and four 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 Midlothian that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 8, 2016, the state investigators documented that the facility failed to “develop and implement an elopement risk intervention to monitor and provide supervision to prevent elopement on an ‘at risk’ resident.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one of three residents “reviewed for elopement and wandering.”
The surveyor said that this failure “resulted in [a resident] eloping [wandering away] from the facility [during] the night shift on November 29, 2016, being found in the driveway of the facility.” A review of the resident’s Admission Elopement Risk Assessment reads that the resident “had reported/documented episodes of elopement or attempts to elope.”
The survey team said that a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) stated that a resident “was found in the driveway of the facility on November 29, 2016, during the night shift.” The LPN said that “she worked the night shift [that night and that at] approximately 1:30 AM… the alarm went off and [a nursing assistant] when outside and found [the resident] in the driveway at the facility.”
The LPN then called the Assistant Director of Nursing to report the incident and said that “she did not do an incident report.” The Nursing Assistant said that “the alarm went off on the night shift on November 29, 2016” and that “she went outside and found [the resident] in the driveway.” The Assistant Director said that “there was no incident report filled out regarding the incident that happened on November 29, 2016, when [the resident] left the building on the night shift.”
The investigative team reviewed the resident’s clinical record note that shows that the resident “had an elopement attempt on October 28, 2016 [a month earlier].” At that time, the resident “attempted to leave without authorization” eloping at 12:30 PM when the “kitchen staff saw the resident walk outside of the building unaccompanied [the resident] back to the building.” A separate incident that occurred on December 2, 2016, was documented by the Social Services Director who said the resident “attempted to go out the back door.”
The resident’s Care Plan dated October 20, 2016, revealed that the resident “is an elopement risk related to disoriented to time and dementia. Interventions include monitor location, document wandering behavior, and attempt … interventions in the behavioral log.” However, the surveyors noted that there “was no documentation of monitoring [the resident’s].” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Elopement dated January 2016 that reads in part:
“On return of the resident to the facility, the Director of Nursing or Charge Nurse should: Assess the resident for any injuries, Contact the physician and report what happened, Contact the resident’s responsible party an informed [them] of the incident.”
The report also says for the nursing staff should “make appropriate notations in the resident’s medical record, update the Care Plan with interventions to reflect the risk of elopement.” The investigator said that the “facility failed to develop interventions to prevent further episodes of elopement.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 13, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility failed to “follow their policy and procedure to report an injury of unknown origin to the State Agency.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one of three residents “reviewed for injuries of unknown origin.”
Documentation shows on the afternoon of July 10, 2018, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) said that “if the resident has a skin tear, there is an assessment done, the supervisor, Doctor and family are notified, an investigation is done by the nurse on the injury.” The LPN said that “for the injury of unknown origin there is a policy on skin tears.” This policy was confirmed by the Administrator who said that the investigation “would be done and the State should be notified, at the start of an abuse investigation.”
The investigative team reviewed a resident’s records dated June 18, 2018, when the nursing staff “charted a new skin concern to the right lower wrist.” However, the documentation shows that the “doctor and family were not notified, the administration was not made aware of, [and] no further investigation was done.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 13, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “follow their policy and procedure to report an injury of unknown origin to the State Agency.” This failure was in direct opposition to the Director of Nursing’s knowledge of the facility’s policy saying “an assessment an incident report is done, doctor and family are called. If it is not known how the injury occurred, the Administrator his notified, and an abuse investigation is done.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 4, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “ensure resident care equipment was installed properly. This [failure] has the potential to affect one of three residents reviewed for specialized rehabilitation services.”
The surveyors reviewed a cognitively intact resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) showing that the resident “is totally dependent on the assistance of two or more staff members to transfer and requires extensive assistance of two staff members for bed mobility.”
The surveyors observed the resident “in bed on January 2, 2018, at 11:30 AM.” The resident “had a partial trapeze frame set up, coming out of the headboard of [the resident’s] bed, and extending only one-fourth of the length of [the resident’s] bed. There was nothing to stabilize this open-ended trapeze frame. The trapeze hanging from the frame was well behind [the resident’s] head.”
The surveyors interviewed the resident who stated they “never use the trapeze, because [the resident] could not reach it, and so [the resident] remained totally dependent on staff for repositioning.” The resident “was again seen with this trapeze set up [the following day at 11:30 AM].”
The investigators interviewed the facility Occupational Therapist/Director of Rehab Services at noon on January 3, 2018. The therapist said that the resident “was initially evaluated by Occupational Therapy on September 12, 2017, the day after he was admitted to the facility.” The therapist said that the resident received “Occupational Therapy three times a week until October 17, 2017, when he reached his goal, which was to be able to partake in dressing himself.”
The therapist also said that the resident “was initially evaluated by Physical Therapy on September 13, 2017.” The resident received “physical therapy three times a week for balance, activity tolerance, and bone mobility.” The resident “ was discharged from Physical Therapy on July 2, 2017, due to all of these goals [being] met; however, [the resident] still required the moderate assistance of two staff members for bed mobility.
The surveyors asked the therapist if the “Therapy Department gave [the resident] the over-bed trapeze that is attached to his bed.” The therapist replied, “they did not.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Restorative Nursing that reads in part:
“Program Description and Rationale: To promote each resident’s ability to maintain a regain the highest degree of independence as safely as possible.” This includes, “but is not limited to, programs and walking/mobility, dressing and grooming, eating and swallowing, transferring, bed mobility, communication, splint or brace assistance, amputation care, and continence programs.”
Do you suspect your loved one had signs or symptoms of abuse, mistreatment or neglect while living at Aperion Care Midlothian? If so, it is crucial to contact Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 immediately for legal help. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Cook County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Midlothian. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our skillful attorneys have successfully resolved many victim cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect. We can work on your behalf to ensure your family receives the financial compensation they deserve. We accept all cases of wrongful death, nursing home abuse, and personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the requirement to make a payment to our network of attorneys until after we have successfully resolved your claim for compensation through a negotiated out of court settlement or jury trial award.
Our network of attorneys provides every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This promise ensures that your family will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf. 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