More people are entering their retirement years in America than ever before. As a result, there has been a significant rise in the cases involving mistreatment, neglect, and abuse in nursing homes nationwide. Many of the senior citizens, disabled, rehabilitating and infirm in Illinois have become the state’s most vulnerable and susceptible patients of abuse and neglect by caregivers and other nursing home residents.
Was your loved one harmed by others in charge of providing them care? If so, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate intervention to hold those responsible for harming your loved one legally and financially accountable. With years of experience, our team of attorneys have represented many Peoria County nursing home residents and can assist your family too.
Contact us now so we can begin working on your case. Let us use the law to pursue your financial compensation claim to ensure you receive adequate compensation for your damages.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Aperion Care Peoria Heights, contact our Chicago nursing home lawyers.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing facility is a "for profit" home providing services to residents of Peoria Heights and Peoria County, Illinois. The 110-certified bed long-term care center is located at:
1629 Gardner Lane
Peoria Heights, Illinois, 61616
(309) 685-1545
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Aperion Care Peoria Heights also offers other care options including short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, and psychiatric rehab.
Illinois and the federal government have a legal responsibility of monitoring every nursing home in the state. These agencies have the authority to impose monetary penalties or withhold payment from Medicare if the nursing facility violated rules and regulations.
Within the last three years, Aperion Care Peoria Heights has received eight 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.
The state of Illinois routinely updates their long-term care home database systems to reflect all incident inquiries, dangerous hazards, opened investigations, health violations, filed complaints, and safety concerns. This information can be found on numerous online at 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 Peoria County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Aperion Care Peoria Heights that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 13, 2018, the state survey team documented that the facility had failed to “Care Plan for the use of side rails for two residents reviewed for side rails.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Proper Use of Side Rails dated 2010 that reads in part:
“Side rails are only permissible if they are used to treat a resident’s medical symptoms or to assist with mobility and transfer of residents. The use of side rails as an assistive device will be addressed in the resident care plan.”
“When side rail usage is appropriate, the facility will assess the space between the mattress and side rails to reduce the risk for entrapment (the amount of safe space may vary, depending on the type of bed and mattress being used).”
Observations were made of a resident just before noon on April 11, 2018, while the resident “was in bed with half side rails up on each side.” The investigators reviewed the resident’s Side Rail Consent Form dated on September 20, 2016, that revealed: “the indication for use is ‘turn and position.’” However, the resident’s “current Care Plan does not contain any problem/interventions related to [the resident’s] side rail usage.”
Additional observations were made of another resident at 10:00 AM and 11:55 AM on April 10, 2018, when the resident “was in bed with half side rails up on both sides.” During an interview with the Care Plan Coordinator a few days later on April 13, 2018, it was revealed that the coordinator “usually does Care Plan the resident’s use of side rails but failed to do so for [both residents]” in violation of federal law.
Failure to Provide and Implement an Infection Protection and Control ProgramIn a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 13, 2018, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “change soiled gloves or perform hand hygiene during incontinence care.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one of three residents “reviewed for incontinence care.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Standard Precautions revised in December 2009 that reads in part:
“Change gloves as necessary during the care of a resident to prevent cross-contamination from one body site to another (when moving from a dirty site to a clean one).”
A review of the severely cognitively impaired resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment revealed that the resident “requires extensive assist by two staff for transfers and toileting and is frequently incontinent of bowel.”
Observations were made of two Certified Nursing Assistants on the morning of April 12, 2018, while providing incontinent care for a resident. One CNA removed bowel movement and cleaned the resident’s rectal area “wearing the same soiled gloves, applied a new incontinence brief and touched [the resident’s] leg and bedsheets.”
The investigators interviewed the other CNA who stated, “after cleaning [a bowel movement] we have to wash hands and change gloves before we touch clean things.” The CNA said that the other CNA “should have washed and changed her gloves after cleaning [the resident].” The other CNA “did not answer when asked about changing gloves and washing hands after cleaning a bowel movement.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated March 9, 2017, the state survey team noted that the nursing home had failed to “change gloves or perform hand hygiene during incontinence care for one of ten residents reviewed for infection control.” The investigators reviewed the facility policy titled: Personal Care Perineal Hygiene (Care) revised in March 2016 that reads in part:
“Perineal care is completed as part of a personal care provided for residents. Perform perineal care moving from the clean areas to the less clean or dirty areas. Note that this may mean changing gloves and performing hand hygiene during care.”
“Male Resident: Wash perineal area starting with the urethra and working outward. Continue to clean the perineal area. Thoroughly rinse perineal area in the same order.”
Observations were made of two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) on the afternoon of March 8, 2017, preparing to transfer a resident “from the wheelchair to the bed to perform incontinence care. After transferring [the resident and repositioning them onto their back] one CNA removed [the resident’s] urine saturated brief and using disposable wipes, cleaned [the resident’s] bilateral inner thighs.” That CNA cleansed the resident’s penis “without removing gloves and performing hand hygiene.” The CNA then assisted the other CNA to roll the resident on to their “left side by pushing on [the resident’s] shoulder with the soiled gloves.”
The first CNA then cleansed the resident’s “buttocks with disposable wipes and with soiled gloves, assisted [the other CNA to roll the resident on to their back and] apply a clean brief, pulled on [the resident’s] shirt, arranged [the resident’s] bed covers and pushed [the resident’s] bedside table next to the bed.” It was only then that the CNA “removed the soiled gloves and perform hand hygiene.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated January 31, 2018, the state investigative team documented that the facility had failed to “follow physician’s orders and follow interventions to prevent the development of an unstageable pressure ulcer. The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved two residents “reviewed for pressure ulcers.”
The surveyor said that this failure resulted in one resident “developing an unstageable pressure ulcer on [their] right ischium, requiring surgical excisional debridement.” The investigators reviewed the facility Quick Reference Guideline for Wound Care that reads in part:
“An unstageable pressure ulcer is full thickness tissue loss, covered by slough (yellow, tan, gray, green or brown) or [dead tissue] eschar (tan, brown or black) in the wound bed. This form also documents that the true depth cannot be determined until slough or eschar is removed to expose the base of the wound.”
The investigative team reviewed the resident’s Admission MDS (Minimum Data Set) that shows that the resident “is at risk for developing pressure ulcers but does not have any pressure ulcers documented.” The resident’s November 30, 2017 - Head to Toe Skin Assessment revealed that the resident’s “skin is intact.”
However, the resident’s Progress Notes dated December 2, 2017 “documents that an open area was observed on the [resident’s] right buttocks.” Two days later, the Wound Care Specialist documents that the resident “has a Stage II pressure ulcer on [their] right ischium, measuring 1.2 cm x 1.5 cm x 0.1 cm. This same form documents that the wound is consistent with a pressure injury.”
Seven days later, the Wound Care Specialist Evaluation documents the resident’s “right ischium wound has unstageable necrosis [dead tissue], measuring 2.0 cm x 1.5 cm but unable to determine depth.” The same form also documents “that a surgical excisional debridement was performed.”
A review of the resident’s TAR (Treatment Administration Record) dated December 4, 2017, through December 11, 2017 documents that the resident’s “medicated dressing to [their] right ischium is to be changed every two days.” However, there is “no documentation that [the resident’s] wound care was completed as ordered” during that time frame. Between December 11, 2017, and December 31, 2017, the resident’s “wound care was not completed six times.”
The resident Primary Care Physician stated that “all Physician Orders are to be followed as ordered.” The doctor also said that “if wound care orders are not completed as ordered, it will cause a new or worsening pressure ulcer.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated January 17, 2018, the state investigative team documented that the facility had “failed to revise a pressure ulcer Care Plan to include a pressure ulcer to the sacrum for [one of three residents] reviewed for pressure ulcers.”
The investigators reviewed the resident’s Treatment Administration Record that guides the nursing staff to apply medication to the resident’s wounds “to times daily to an unstageable pressure wound to the sacrum.” However, the resident’s “pressure ulcer Care Plan does not include a problem, goal, or interventions for the pressure ulcer to the sacrum.”
During an interview with the facility Director of Nursing, it was confirmed that the resident’s “pressure ulcer care was not revised to include [the resident’s] pressure ulcer to the sacrum.” The Director said that “the Pressure Ulcer Care Plan should have been revised to include [the resident’s] pressure ulcer to the sacrum.”
Do you believe your loved one has suffered serious injuries or died prematurely while a resident at Aperion Care Peoria Heights? If so, contact the law offices of Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Peoria County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Peoria Heights. 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. Our network of attorneys accepts all nursing home abuse lawsuits, personal injury claims, medical malpractice cases, and wrongful death suits through a contingency fee arrangement. This agreement will postpone the need to make a payment for our legal services until after our attorneys have resolved your case through a jury trial award or negotiated out of court settlement.
We provide every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf, you owe our legal team nothing. We can begin representing you in your case today to ensure you receive adequate 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