Families must often entrust the management of care and services of a loved one to a nursing home staff to ensure they remain safe and healthy in a compassionate environment. Unfortunately, many nursing home residents become the victims of mistreatment, neglect or abuse at the hands of caregivers, employees, visitors and other patients. Poor care is often the result of a lack of sufficient staff, mismanagement, or ineffective hiring practices that employ abusive caregivers.
If the nursing home misled your family and victimized your loved one, contact the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys for immediate legal intervention. Our team of Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers has successfully resolved cases just like yours. Let us start representing you today so we can ensure your family receives the financial compensation you deserve for your damages, and those responsible for the harm are held legally accountable.
This long-term care (LTC) facility is a 120-certified bed "for profit" home providing services and cares to residents of Belleville and St. Clair County, Illinois. The Medicare/Medicaid-participating center is located at:
40 North 64Th Street
Belleville, Illinois, 62223
(618) 397-8400
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Hialeah Healthcare of Belleville also offers other services including:
Illinois and federal investigators have the legal authority to penalize any nursing home that has been cited for a serious violation that harmed or could have harmed in nursing home resident. Typically, these penalties include imposed monetary fines and denial of payment for Medicare services.
Within the last three years, the nursing home regulatory agencies imposed two monetary fines against Helia Healthcare Of Belleville - Willowcreek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. These penalties included and $80,490 fine on January 17, 2017, and a $183,658 fine on May 16, 2016, for a total of $264,148. Also, Medicare denied payment for services rendered on two occasions including on June 14, 2018, and January 17, 2017.
Over the last thirty-six months, the nursing home received thirty-two formally filed complaints that all resulted in citations. Additional documentation concerning penalties and fines can be reviewed on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website about this nursing facility.
Comprehensive research results can be reviewed on the Illinois Department of Public Health and Medicare.gov nursing home database systems. These sites detail all opened investigations, safety concerns, incident inquiries, dangerous hazards, filed complaints, and health violations. Many families use this information to determine the level of medical, health 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 three 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 Helia Healthcare Of Belleville - Willowcreek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 30, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “timely identify and treat pressure sores and failed to follow treatment as ordered by the physician.” The nursing home also “failed to provide adequate offloading to promote healing for two of five residents reviewed for pressure ulcers.” This failure “resulted in [a resident] developing a facility-acquired pressure ulcer at Stage III [before] being identified.”
The surveyor’s findings included an interview with the resident on the morning of July 24, 2018, who stated that “he had a pressure sore on his coccyx and that it does not have a dressing on it.” The resident “stated that he has to tell the staff to turn him. At that time, a skin assessment was completed with [the Assistant Director of Nursing and the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)].”
It was then that “there was no dressing on [the resident’s] coccyx pressure ulcer. There was visible pink/brown drainage on the pad as verified [by the Assistant Director]. There was no dressing in [the patient’s] bed.”
The Assistant Director “then left the room to get treatment supplies” before cleansing the resident’s “pressure ulcer with normal saline.” The Assistant Director continued to perform wound care and stated that “the treatment regimen had not been changed.” The Director stated that “she would expect the dressing to be in place.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 30, 2018, the state investigative team documented that the facility had failed to “implement interventions identified in the Care Plan for falls for one of three residents reviewed for accidents.” The investigator said that this failure resulted in the resident “falling out of bed and receiving a laceration to the head that required sutures.”
A review of the resident’s Care Plan dated February 13, 2017, revealed that the patient “is at risk for falls with injuries related to her impaired cognition secondary to [her medical conditions].”
The resident’s Care Plan Intervention dated February 1, 2017 documents that “floor mats to bilateral sides of the bed. Keep the bed in the lowest position unless providing care.” A subsequent Care Plan dated July 20, 2017 “found on the floor next to the bed [with a] laceration above the right eye.”
The resident’s Incident Report revealed that the patient “fell out of bed on July 20, 2017, at midnight. The report documents and “L” shaped laceration to the right eye.” The resident was “sent out to the hospital.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 30, 2018, a state surveyor noted the nursing home's failure to “timely identify and initiate isolation precautions and failed to educate the family for infection control practices. This failure has the potential to affect all seventy residents in the facility.”
The investigative team reviewed the resident’s Hospital History and Physical dated July 14, 2018, that revealed the male resident has a “history of gunshot injury and headaches… with a history of indwelling catheter presents with fever and chills.”
The resident’s medical records show that he has a medical condition “secondary to urinary tract infections” that is being treated after a follow up with a “urine and blood culture.” Testing revealed that the resident has Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and will be put in isolation due to the highly contagious organism. However, the resident’s Readmission Nurses’ Note dated July 23, 2018, at 5:15 PM documents that there is “no isolation precautions for [the highly contagious resident returning from the hospital].”
The surveyors observed the resident lying awake in bed on the morning on July 24, 2018, with “no posted isolation precautions signed by the door.” Thirty-six minutes later, two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) provided the resident catheter care. Both CNAs “washed hands and gloves but did not wear any protective isolation gown.” One CNA “change gloves without any prior hand hygiene after cleansing the genital area including the glans and catheter at the insertion site with soap and water.”
The same CNA “applied barrier cream to the front perineal area and around the glans penis.” That CNA “changed gloves without any hand hygiene [and] applied a clean incontinent pad underneath [the resident], washed buttocks and rectal area.” Then, the CNA “changed gloves without prior hand hygiene and put adult briefs and boxer shorts on [the resident].” At that time, both CNAs “washed hands and exited the room.”
A Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) verified at noon on July 24, 2018, that “she admitted [the resident] from the hospital [and that the] hospital report did not say [the resident] was on isolation for caution.” During an interview with the Assistant Director of Nursing, it was revealed that the facility “was not made aware [when the resident] was admitted that he was on isolation [due to a highly contagious infection] of the urine in the hospital.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated June 14, 2018, the state survey team documented the facility’s failure to “timely notify the physician of scheduled medications not available at the time for administration for one of three residents reviewed for physician notification.”
The investigative team reviewed the resident’s Interim Care Plan dated June 12, 2018, that revealed the patient “being alert and cognition intact.” The resident’s Care Plan shows that the patient “is to receive insulin as ordered, the anticoagulant Eliquis, and to receive a pharmacological pain regimen.” However, a review of the resident’s Medication Administration Record (MAR) documents that the patient “did not receive their medications on June 12, 2018” including Eliquis during the afternoon dosage.
The investigators interviewed the resident just after noon on June 13, 2018, who said: “he came to the facility for rehabilitation after a sustained a broken femur.” The patient said she “was not sure what medication she received on the day she came to the facility, but you know she did not receive her “Eliquis) and insulin before dinner.” The patient said that the medication “was not available at the time she arrived at the facility [and said] she gets anxiety if she does not get good pain control.”
The resident said that “she feels she received [their medication] much too late, on her date of arrival to the facility.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s Obtaining and Following Physician Order Policies that states “if those orders are not followed for any reason, the Physician and Director of Nursing will be promptly notified.”
Do you suspect that your loved one suffered abuse, mistreatment or neglect while living as a resident at Helia Healthcare Of Belleville - Willowcreek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center? If so, call the law offices of Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of St. Clair County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Belleville. 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.
We provide every client a “No Win/No Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unsuccessful at resolving your monetary recovery case, you owe us nothing. Let us begin working on your case today to ensure your family is adequately compensated for the damages that 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