Unfortunately, neglect and abuse are serious problems that still occur in nursing homes nationwide. Mistreatment of the elderly, rehabilitating and disabled residents in nursing homes is despicable, reprehensible and disgraceful. Every family entrust the care of their loved one to the staff in the nursing facility and places their full faith that they will receive the best treatment in a safe, compassionate, environment.
If your loved one was victimized through mistreatment while residing in a St. Clair County nursing facility, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal intervention. Our team of lawyers have successfully resolved complicated nursing home abuse and neglect cases and can help your family too.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Autumn Meadows of Cahokia, contact our Chicago nursing home negligence attorneys.
Contact us now to ensure we can begin working on your case today. Let us use the law to ensure you are financially compensated for your damages in those responsible for causing the harm are held legally accountable.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating long-term care (LTC) center is a 150-certified bed "for profit" home providing services to residents of Cahokia and St. Clair County, Illinois. The facility is located at:
2 Annable Court
Cahokia, Illinois, 62206
(618) 332-0114
Both Illinois and the federal government can impose a monetary fine or deny payments through Medicare when a nursing facility has been found to violate established regulations and rules. The higher the monetary fine, the more serious the violation is that likely harmed or could have harmed one or more residents at the nursing home. During the last three years, Medicare denied Autumn Meadows of Cahokia payment for services rendered on June 29, 2016, due to substandard care.
Over the last thirty-six months, the facility has received fourteen formally filed complaints and self-reported one serious issue 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.
Families can review comprehensive research results on the Medicare.gov and Illinois Department of Public Health nursing home websites that detail all opened investigations, safety concerns, incident inquiries, health violations, dangerous hazards, and filed complaints. The information is valuable to determine the level of health, medical and hygiene care long-term care facilities in the local community provide their residents.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one 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 St. Clair County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Autumn Meadows of Cahokia that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 3, 2018, a state investigative team noted the nursing home's failure to “identified causative organisms of infections to ensure proper infection control procedures are followed.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved three of eighteen residents “reviewed for infection control.”
A review of the facility’s Infection Control Listing documents that the resident “came from the hospital with bacteremia with an onset date of February 26, 2018.” However, “there was no causative organisms listed although [the resident] was being treated with [their medication] intravenously every four hours for two days.” There was a second document showing that another resident “came from the hospital with two wound infections” that were treated with Keflex 500 milligrams four times a day until March 4, 2018.” However, “there was no causative organisms documented in the Line Listing form” as required.
A third resident’s Infection Control Line Listing reveals that they “came from the hospital [to the facility] with bacteremia. The onset date of the infection was listed as March 15, 2018. The Line Listing documented [that the resident received a medication] for seven days.” However, “there was no causative organisms documented in the Line Listing Form.”
The investigators interviewed the Quality Assurance Nurse and asked, “why the pathogens were not identified in the infection control monitoring form” as required. The nurse said that “the hospital did not send any culture sensitivity report, I looked to the hospital reports sent with the resident’s when they would have returned.” The nurse said that because of their lack of monitoring they would not know “what organisms/pathogen was identified to ensure appropriate treatment was being provided and to ensure no isolation is warranted.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated make May 3, 2018, the state investigative surveyors noted that the facility failed to “assess the risks and medical symptom justifying the use of side rails.” The incident involved a severely cognitively impaired resident who “is totally dependent on staff for all Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).”
The resident’s side rail assessment reveals that the resident is non-ambulatory and has “alteration and safety awareness due to cognitive decline.” The documentation also shows that the resident has a history of falls and has “demonstrated poor bed mobility, [has] difficulty moving to a sitting position on the side of the bed [and] has difficulty with balance and poor trunk control.”
The report shows that “at this time, side rails are indicated to assist and positioning and support” and there are “no adverse reactions to side rail for the resident.” However, the Side Rail Assessment “does not document a medical reason for the use of the side rail [and] if less restrictive measures were tried before the use of the side rail.
The surveyors observed the resident resting in bed on the morning of May 9, 2017, on two occasions “with the right half rail raised and the left side of the bed close to the wall.” The following morning the resident was observed: “in bed with the right half side rail up and the left side of the bed against the wall.”
The surveyors interviewed a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who “stated the side rail prevents [the resident] from falling off the bed.” During an interview with the MDS (Minimum Data Set) Coordinator, it was revealed that “there is no medical symptom for the use of the side rail as it was at the request of [the resident’s] wife and Power of Attorney.”
The Coordinator stated “there were no less-restrictive approaches tried before using the side rail. The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Restraint Use dated October 28, 2015, that reads in part:
“The long-term care facility supports a restraint-free environment. Whenever it is necessary to use selective restraints, the purpose will be to enhance the resident’s quality of life by promoting safety and an optimal level of function. Restraints will only be used to treat a medical symptom.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated May 11, 2017, a state surveyor noted the nursing home's failure to “don gloves before administering medication per gastric tubes.” Observations were made of a Registered Nurse on the morning of May 9, 2017, who “administered medications for [a resident] per [their enteral medication device] without donning gloves.”
The investigators interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who “stated that she would expect staff to wear gloves when giving medication” via an enteral medication device. The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Enteral Medication that reads in part:
“All enteral medications will be administered in a safe, efficient and accurate manner to residents for whom they are prescribed and [by] current acceptable nursing practice.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated February 22, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility failed to “promote the prevention of pressure ulcers.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “reviewed for pressure ulcers.”
The survey team reviewed the Weekly Wound Report dated February 12, 2018, through February 16, 2018, that documents that the resident “has an unstageable deep tissue injury to the left and right heel” with the date of origin documented as January 19, 2018.” The report shows that “the wounds were facility-acquired.”
The investigation involved a resident who “requires extensive assist and two-person physical assist for bed mobility, transfers, and toileting.” A review of the facility’s scale for identifying pressure ulcer risk dated on December 29, 2017, shows a score of 13.0, meaning the resident is at moderate risk for developing pressure wounds.
However, the investigators say that “this is the only pressure ulcer risk assessment available for [the resident]. Just before noon on February 21, 2018, the surveyors observed the resident “lying on his right side facing the wall on the low air mattress and a wedge behind his back.” The resident “has sheepskin heel protectors present to both feet.”
The resident’s Care Plan dated February 7, 2018, noted that the resident “is to have bilateral boots that are open at the heels which were not present.” During an interview with the Wound Nurse, it was revealed that the resident’s deep tissue injuries were caused by shearing. The Wound Nurse said that when the resident’s head of the bed was elevated the resident “would rub his heels on the mattress.”
The investigative team reviewed the facility policy titled: Wound Management dated October 2017 that reads in part:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 9, 2018, a state surveyor noted that the facility had failed to “change an indwelling urinary catheter according to physician’s orders and failed to provide complete catheter care.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved three residents “reviewed for catheter care.”
The surveyor said that this failure “to timely change an indwelling urinary catheter led to hospitalization for [one resident] for the removal of a calcified catheter and treatment for [a serious medical condition].” The survey team reviewed the resident’s Physician’s Order Sheet (POS) dated March 2018 that shows that the nursing staff is to change the resident’s “French indwelling urinary catheter monthly and as needed one time a day starting on the 20th and ending on the 21st of every month for urethral stricture.”
A review of the resident’s Treatment Administration Records (TARs) verified the change of the resident’s French catheter listed in the physician’s order sheet. However, a review of the February 2018 TAR shows that the document “was not signed, indicating [the resident’s] catheter was not changed in the facility” as ordered.
A review of the resident’s Care Plan dated February 3, 2018, revealed that the resident “has an indwelling urinary catheter related to urology urodynamics testing.” The document shows that the resident is “at risk for infection due to catheter placement. Goal: Will remain free from catheter-related trauma and infection through review date. Approaches: Change catheter and tubing per the physician’s orders.”
The survey team reviewed the Urology Specialty Care Clinic Notes dated February 23, 2018. The notes revealed a chief complaint involving a follow-up after the urology urodynamics with an assessment plan to have the resident’s urinary indwelling catheter changed at the facility. The surveyor shows that “the urology notes did not document [that the resident’s] indwelling urinary catheter was changed during that visit.”
During the investigation, the surveyors reviewed the Nurses Note Late Entry on the same day on February 23, 2018, at 6:21 PM. The note shows the Director of Nursing called the doctor’s office inquiring about the indwelling urinary catheter. At that time, the doctor “explain the resident’s catheter was changed at the office, and the facility can change the catheter every month.”
The resident’s March 22, 2018 Nurse’s Notes revealed a call was placed to the position related to the patient displaying a very pale color with a temperature of 100.2°. The documentation shows that the “catheter draining was very dark, brownish red concentrated urine and thick brownish mucous coming out of the tip of the penis.”
The nursing staff “attempted to change the patient’s catheter and the catheter tube would not dislodge.” The doctor gave new orders to send the patient to the emergency room “for evaluation and treatment.”
A review of the hospital’s consultation notes documented that same day shows that the patient “is a nonverbal, nonresponsive” African-American male “who has an indwelling catheter [that has not been changed] according to the physician’s orders and that the tubing is “unable to be removed.” A urologist at the hospital was able to remove the catheter without incident but there “was some calcification around the deflated balloon.
Do you suspect your loved one is being abused or mistreated while living at Autumn Meadows of Cahokia? If so, call the Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of St. Clair County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Cahokia. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim. Let us fight aggressively on your behalf to ensure your rights are protected.
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 every case involving nursing home neglect, wrongful death, or personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones making payments to our legal firm until after we have successfully resolved your case through a jury trial award or negotiated 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. Let our attorneys begin working on your behalf today to ensure your family receives adequate compensation from those who caused your harm. 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