Have you relocated your loved one into a skilled nursing home to ensure they receive the highest level of professional care in a compassionate, safe environment? Are you concerned that they may have become the victim of mistreatment by caregivers, employees or other residents? If so, contact the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys for immediate legal assistance.
Our team of attorneys has successfully investigated and resolved hundreds of mistreatment cases throughout Illinois including in Cook and Kane counties. Let us help your family seek justice and obtain monetary recovery to restore your financial damages. We can begin working on your case today.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Citadel Care Center - Elgin, contact our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing center is a "for profit" facility providing services and cares to residents of Elgin and Cook and Kane counties, Illinois. The 88-certified bed long-term care (LTC) nursing home is located at:
180 South State Street
Elgin, Illinois, 60123
(847) 742-3110
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Citadel Care Center – Elgin also offers:
Illinois and the federal government have the legal obligation to monitor every nursing facility and impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if the home has violated established nursing home regulations. In severe cases, the nursing facility will receive multiple penalties if investigators find the violations are severe and harmed or could have harmed a resident.
Within the last three years, investigators have imposed a monetary penalty against Citadel Care Center - Elgin for $7673 on October 5, 2017. Also, the facility received fifteen formally filed complaints due to substandard care. Additional information concerning fines and penalties can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website about this nursing facility.
The state of Illinois and federal government regularly updates their long-term care home database system with complete details of all health violations, safety concerns, incident inquiries, opened investigations, filed complaints, and dangerous hazards. The search results can be found on numerous online sites including Medicare.gov and the IL 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, two out of five stars for staffing issues and one out of five stars for quality measures. The Cook and Kane counties neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Citadel Care Center - Elgin that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 5, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility failed to “transfer a resident who was identified as high risk for falls safely by using a mechanical lift.”
Documentation shows that the patient “was assisted with a transfer from the wheelchair to the bed” by two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) “using a mechanical lift.” The resident “has a below the knee amputation to the left leg.” One Certified Nursing Assistant placed the straps between the resident’s legs “and connected the upper straps to the mechanical lift machine.” The CNA then “used a purple sling with green trim for [the resident’s] transfer.”
At that time, the CNA positioned the wheelchair behind the foot of the resident’s bed on the right side of the bed and repositioned the resident, so they were facing the head of the bed. The CNA then guided the patient “who was suspended in the sling of the mechanical lift to the left side of the resident’s bed before placing the resident in bed.” At that time, the patient “was slipping through the bottom portion of the sling of the mechanical lift.”
The state survey team interviewed a Certified Nursing Assistant who said the resident “can use a larger medium sling for transfer using the mechanical lift.” The CNA said that “the purple sling is a large sling [and that] if the sling is used for that resident” it is too big for the resident, and the resident can “fall through the sling during transfer.”
As a part of the investigation, the survey team interviewed a Restorative Nurse who said that the resident “should be transferred using a sling with the yellow trim according to [the resident’s] weight of 136 pounds.” Documentation shows that the resident “was at high risk for falls related to poor safety awareness” and is “totally dependent on two staff persons for transfers.” The investigators reviewed the lift manufacturer’s guidelines that show the nursing staff should use the medium/yellow sling for any resident weighing between 121 pounds and 165 pounds.
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated September 6, 2018, the survey team noted that the Nursing Home had “failed to provide adequate assistance to a resident during provision of care to promote safety.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one patient “reviewed for falls.”
A review of the resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) between May 3, 2018, and July 24, 2018, revealed that the resident “requires a total assist from staff with all aspects of activities of daily living.” The resident “requires assistance from two persons for bed mobility and transfer.”
A review of the patient’s Care Plan for ADL Care and Fall Prevention dated April 12, 2018, and June 15, 2017, show that the resident “is at risk for falls related to balance problems, incontinence, poor safety awareness, restless leg syndrome, known to have restless movement as if startled, during care leading to changes in position from the center of the bed.” This action can cause the resident “to lean far over the side when being transferred/repositioned in bed. There were multiple interventions [showing that the resident] is totally dependent requires two staff persons for transfers and incontinence needs.”
The survey team reviewed an April 6, 2018 Incident Report showing that a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) were with the patient who had “fallen out of bed while [the CNA] was changing the resident.” At that time, the resident rolled “as she had a large bowel movement.”
During that time, the resident leaned forward over more the necessary and rolled out of bed. After the patient fell to the floor, they laid in a supine position next to the bedside table. The LPN entered the room and saw the resident on the floor and performed an assessment and noted: “laceration the left ear and was bleeding, cleansed area and applied compression dressing.” The nursing staff called 911 for emergency services.
A review of the resident’s Nurse Progress Notes dated August 6, 2018, revealed that the patient “had return back to the facility on the same day she was sent out to the hospital. The Progress Notes also show that the left ear laceration was with the Band-Aid that was intact and there was no bleeding.” The hospital report shows that no sutures were required.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated April 24, 2018, the state survey team noted that the nursing home had “failed to prevent two avoidable pressure wounds in a long-term care resident. This [failure] applies to one of three residents reviewed for pressure wounds.”
The investigators observed a resident in bed with a “wound on the inner (medial) aspect of the left knee and a bandage was in place over the corresponding area on the right knee.” Documentation shows that nursing staff found the resident “to be sleeping, lethargic, but responsive to tactile stimuli noted increase labored respirations.”
The note further shows the “doctor was called who issued orders for blood tests and chest x-rays which were carried out. The family was notified.” Blood test results “were received and found to be critical” and the resident was sent to the hospital and admitted to the facility “for septic pneumonia.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 22, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “notify the resident’s physician of skin changes. This [failure] applies to two of three residents reviewed for altered skin integrity or open wounds.”
In one incident, the patient was admitted to the facility with multiple opened areas on the top of the head, the right axilla, and upper back. Documentation shows the resident was to receive treatment including dressing changes twice daily and ‘as needed’ for the top of the head, three times a day and ‘as needed’ for the right axilla and every two days and ‘as needed’ for the upper back. In addition, the resident was on contact precautions for a contagious infection in her head wound.”
Surveyors saw the nursing staff providing a treatment where a “red open bump-like wound was observed on the right side of the face near the temporal area.” The resident informed the Wound Care Nurse that “the wound was painful but was unaware of how long it had been there.”
The wound care nurse stated that “she had been unaware of the presence of the wound.” The nurse reviewed the resident’s Progress Notes and Physician’s Orders “having been notified of the presence of the open wound in the right temporal area.”
The Wound Care Nurse was interviewed and said that “she had spoken to the nurse practitioner about the resident’s head, right axilla and back wound but nothing else.” The Wound Nurse said that the facility’s policies require notification to the Physician “about any declining condition.”
The investigators interviewed the resident’s Physician who stated “he had been unaware of the presence of an open area on the resident’s face; he had been in the facility the previous day” but did not see the resident. The Physician said that “he did not know why he was not informed about the facial wound.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Change in Resident’s Condition that reads in part:
“Nursing will notify the resident’s physician or nurse practitioner when there is a significant change in the resident’s physical, mental or emotional status that affects their overall well-being.”
Do you believe that your grandparent, parent or spouse died prematurely or suffered serious injury while a resident at Citadel Care Center – Elgin? If so, call the Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Cook and Kane County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Elgin. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our team of skilled elderly resident injury attorneys can assist your family and successfully resolve your case for financial recompense against all parties including the facility, doctors, nurses, and staff members that caused your loved one’s harm. We accept every case concerning wrongful death, nursing home abuse, and personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement 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 offer each client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning all fees are waived if we cannot obtain compensation to recover your damages. We can begin working on your case today to ensure your family receives monetary recovery 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