Families entrust the nursing home staff to provide their loved one compassionate care when they require the highest level of medical and hygiene assistance. Unfortunately, many residents of nursing facilities become victims of mistreatment, abuse, and neglect by caregivers, visitors, employees, and other patients. These victims often suffer serious physical, emotional and mental harm, sexual assault, or develop life-threatening medical conditions that could have been prevented had the staff and administration follow the established protocols.
If your loved one was victimized through mistreatment while residing in a Cook County nursing facility, contact the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys for immediate legal intervention. Our team of Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers has successfully resolved cases exactly like yours. Let us work on your behalf to ensure your family receives adequate financial compensation for your damages and those responsible for causing the harm are held legally accountable.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a 184-certified bed "for profit" home providing services and cares to residents of Glenwood and Cook County, Illinois. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating center is located at:
19330 South Cottage Grove
Glenwood, Illinois, 60425
(708) 758-6200
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Glenwood Healthcare and Rehab Center offers other services including:
Both the federal government and the state of Illinois can impose monetary fines or deny payments through Medicare if any nursing facility that has been found to have violated the established nursing home rules and regulations. On August 1, 2017, the federal and state nursing home regulatory agencies imposed a monetary fine of $9750 against Glenwood Healthcare and Rehabilitation due to substandard care.
Within the last three years, the nursing home also received fifty formally filed complaints and self-reported three serious issues that all resulted in citations. Additional information about fines and penalties can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
The federal government and Illinois care home regulatory agencies routinely update their statewide nursing facility database system and post the data on the Medicare.gov and the IL Department of Public Health website. The information contains historical details of dangerous hazards, opened investigations, health violations, safety concerns, filed complaints, and incident inquiries of every facility statewide.
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 two 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 Glenwood Healthcare and Rehabilitation that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, the state survey team noted that the nursing home had “failed to follow the restraint policy and remove the restraint during mealtime for [two of three residents].” The nursing home also “failed to obtain informed consent for a restraint, failed to complete quarterly restraint assessments, and failed to properly assess restraint usage that is medically contraindicated for [one resident].”
The investigators reviewed the facility’s Restraint Log dated September 12, 2017, that shows “two residents at the facility with restraints.” On the morning of September 26, 2017, a resident “was observed in the A Wing’s hallway with hand mitts on.” That resident “also had a soft waist enabler around the resident’s waist, and straps were tied to the bottom of the wheelchair.”
At lunchtime, surveyors observed the resident “in the dining room with a soft waist enabler hanging on the back of the wheelchair.” A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) / Quality Assurance Coordinator “was present and assisting [the patient] with the meal.” The CNA said that the resident “uses hand mitts in a waist restraint but they are not on right now because [the resident] is eating.” The CNA said that the resident “has had these restraints on for a long time.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Director of Nursing regarding the resident’s use of a soft waist enabler. A review of the Restraint List presented to the surveyors on September 26, 2017, listed the patient “as only having bilateral hand mitts.” The Director said that “the soft waist enabler is not being used as a restraint.”
The surveyors requested a review of the patient’s “Informed Consents for Restraint Use” along with the Physician’s Orders, Quarterly Review for the Use of Physical restraint, and Care Plans.”
Upon review of the resident’s Physical Restraint Consent shows a consent form dated more than eighteen months ago on February 3, 2016. The Director verified that this was the most recent consent by the resident to use restraints.
However, reviewing the verbiage in the consent form, it clearly states “the duration of this consent for the use of this physical restraint is good only until the next annual assessment of the resident’s need, or if there is a change in the restraint used. At those times, a new consent will be needed.” However, “no subsequent consent was provided” for the use of the resident’s soft waist belt enabler after February 3, 2016.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, the state surveyors documented that the facility had failed to “follow their sharps disposal policy and ensured disposable razors were disposed of after use.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved two residents “in the supplemental sample reviewed for safety and sharps.”
On the morning of September 25, 2017, the surveyors observed two disposable razors inside the bathroom shared by two residents. The investigators say that the “razors were left unsecured and no staff was present at the time.”
The survey team interviewed the facility Administrator who said that “razors that were in [those two residents’] room should not have been there. If a staff sees razors, then they should be removed.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “follow infection control practices with hand hygiene between resident contact and gloves use for [one resident] reviewed for infection control.”
On the morning of September 26, 2017, the state survey team observed the facility Hospice Aide assisting a resident “with toileting.” At that time, the Aide entered the resident’s room, applied “gloves without hand hygiene, and assisted [the resident] from the bed to the wheelchair.” The resident’s “urine drainage bag is currently laying on the floor with the catheter opened, exposed and unsecured.” The Hospice Aide “left the urine drainage bag on the floor, and out of the privacy bag.”
The Aide then wheeled the resident “to the washroom and discovered that the toilet was not working there.” Standing water and feces was observed in the toilet.” The Aide then left the resident’s “room with one glove on and no hand hygiene done.” The Hospice Aide then “went across the hall to another resident’s room to retrieve a plunger for the clock toilet.”
The Hospice Aide then “applied another glove without doing hand hygiene and plunged the toilet and then proceeded to assist [the patient] to the toilet without changing gloves or performing hand hygiene.”
The surveyors interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who said that “the agency was notified about the Hospice Aide and the staff has been in-serviced.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 26, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “follow wound care interventions of turning and repositioning [a patient] at least every two hours.” The nursing home also failed to “identify, report and document skin assessments and changes in [two of three residents] reviewed for pressure ulcers.”
As a part of the investigation, the survey team interviewed a resident’s family member who said that their loved one “has not been reposition while ‘I am here visiting on multiple locations. I have spoken to the staff here about it.’” The family member said that the resident “requires extensive assistance with two staff members to turn and frequently reposition, to relieve pressure to the areas at risk and areas with ulcers while in bed.”
The document also reveals that the patient “needs extensive assistance to change [his] adult brief and he is frequently incontinent.” The patient’s “most recent risk assessment on September 20, 2018, indicates he is at high risk for skin breakdown.”
The survey team observed the resident between 9:15 AM through 12:30 PM on September 25, 2018 while “lying on his back with no position change.” The investigators spoke to a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) who said “I need to do [the resident] before his wife comes in. I do not want any more trouble with her.” The CNA said that the resident “has some discharge on the adult brief from the catheter along with a bowel movement [and] is supposed to be turned and repositioned every two hours.” The facility Wound Care Nurse verified that day that the patient “is to be turned and repositioned every two hours.”
The survey team reviewed a resident’s medical records and Nurse’s Notes. Their findings included that beneath the resident “was a fitted sheet, bath blanket (folded twice] and an incontinence brief.” The patient’s “incontinence brief was saturated with urine and a moderate amount of feces.” An RN inspected the resident’s “bath blanket and affirmed it created four additional layers on top of the fitted sheet.”
The investigators noted the observation of a sign on the resident’s wall (at the head of his bed) stating “Please! No fitted sheets on the bed. Only a top sheet. This is an air mattress. Top sheet only.”
Even though the resident was observed “lying on top of a low air mattress” beneath the resident “was a flat she, and additional flat sheet (folded twice) and his incontinence brief.” The CNA providing the resident care affirmed that the bedding “created for additional layers of the top of the flat sheet” which violated physician’s orders” in providing the best care for preventing and treating pressure ulcers.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 22, 2018, the state surveyors noted that the nursing home had “failed to thoroughly investigate the incident of a serious injury and failed to interview/report statements of all staff involved in the incident to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).”
The investigator’s findings included notations of the resident involved in the incident “was bed bound and unable to stand.” The patient “requires the assistance of staff for all activities of daily living in transfers.” The resident “requires a mechanical lift for transfer and is not able to bear weight on feet.”
The facility Director of Nursing presented the surveyors an Incident Report that contained a brief statement from two nurses at the home. The documentation shows that the resident “was heard calling out for the nurse.” The nurse went into the resident’s room and found the patient “on the floor in between the beds face down.”
The patient “lifted their head up [when the nurse entered the room and stated [they were] trying to get up” thinking they were “at home.” The resident “was noted to have a right-side rail up” and a “left side with no side rail.” One nurse “called for help from the staff to position [the patient] back to bed.”
The surveyors then asked the facility Administrator “for a complete investigation of the incident.” The Administrator verified that Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) were working during that shift when the incident occurred. The surveyors asked the Administrator “why the investigation did not have any mention of the CNAs or their statements.”
In response, the Administrator looked at the surveyors and shrugged their shoulders. The Administrator verified that there were no interviews with the CNAs concerning the incident. A lack of statements and interviews with all who might be involved violates state and federal laws in completing a comprehensive investigation involving an unwitnessed fall.
Do you suspect that your loved one is being abused or neglected while a resident at Glenwood Healthcare and Rehabilitation? If so, call the Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Cook County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Glenwood. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our nursing home attorneys have successfully resolved many financial compensation claims for victims of mistreatment in nursing homes. We accept every nursing home neglect case, wrongful death lawsuit, personal injury claim for compensation through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the need to pay for our legal services until after our legal team has resolved your claim for compensation through a jury trial award or negotiated settlement out of court.
Our network of attorneys offers every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning you will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation to recover your family’s damages. We can start working on your case today to make sure you and your family receive 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 Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home