Do you suspect that your loved one is the victim of mistreatment, neglect or abuse while residing in a St. Clair County nursing facility? If so, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys can provide immediate legal intervention.
If your loved one has been mistreated at Integrity Healthcare of Smithton, contact our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers.
Contact us today so we can begin working on your case to ensure your family is adequately compensated for your monetary damages. Our team of attorneys has handled cases exactly like yours. We use the law to hold those responsible for causing the harm both legally and financially accountable.
This facility is a 101-certified bed "for profit" long term care home providing services and cares to residents of Smithton and St. Clair County, Illinois. The Medicaid-approved long-term care (LTC) center is located at:
107 South Lincoln
Smithton, Illinois, 62285
(618) 235-4600
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, Integrity Health Care of Smithton provides other services that include:
Both the State of 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 greater the monetary fine, the more serious the violation is that likely harmed or could have harmed one or more residents at the nursing home.
Within the last three years, Integrity Health Care of Smithton received thirty-one formally filed complaints due to substandard care that all resulted in citations. Additional information concerning fines and penalties can be found on the publicly available Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website about this nursing facility.
The Illinois and federal government nursing home regulatory agencies routinely update their care home database system. These agencies report a detailed list of all dangerous hazards, safety concerns, health violations, incident inquiries, opened investigations, and filed complaints. This information can be found on numerous websites 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 one out of five stars concerning health inspections, three 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 Integrity Healthcare of Smithton that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 23, 2018, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “do a complete abuse investigation for two of fourteen residents reviewed for abuse.” The investigators reviewed a resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment and Brief Interview for Mental Status that revealed that the cognitively intact resident “has behaviors of verbal and physical aggression and uses a wheelchair.”
The resident’s State Police criminal history background check documented that the patient “has a criminal history of aggravated assault.” The resident’s Psychosocial History and Assessment show that the patient “has a history of inappropriate sexual behavior. When [the patient] is asked about personal boundaries, he becomes agitated: he implies he lacks impulse control.”
The resident’s Identify Offender Risk Assessment dated October 2, 2018 shows “this resident gets around in a wheelchair. He generally comes out of his room at mealtimes only, which are supervised. This resident does display acts of sexual behavior minimally.”
The Complete Initial Report dated August 11, 2018, at 10:20 AM revealed that the resident and another resident had a “resident-to-resident altercation with residents immediately separated. No injuries. Final report to follow. The report documents both resident’s names. The report fails to identify what the altercation was between [both] residents.”
A review of the Final Incident and Abuse Notification dated August 17, 2018, revealed that one resident was ambulating past the other resident’s wheelchair. As the first resident passed, the second resident “reached out and attempted to grab at [the first resident]. The residents were immediately separated.”
The second resident “was taken to his room where staff provided one-on-one [supervision] with a focus on avoiding contact with peers.” The staff said the residents “have been interviewed with no finding. Staff interviews have been completed. The medical records for both residents were reviewed, including medication review. Based on the facility investigation, the facility is unable to substantiate intentional abuse.”
The state investigators asked the Former Administrator “where the witness statements and interviews for this investigation were?” The former Administrator replied, “Well, I have more statements. I will get them. He is a high-risk offender, but not a sex offender. I will get you the interventions and observations of [the allegedly abusive resident] after the incident. The Nurse’s Notes say he grabbed at her vaginal area. I learned that the staff intervenes before contact was made. I can give you [the nurse’s] note.”
The investigative team interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) on the afternoon of October 18, 2018. The LPN said that they asked a third resident “to write something about the incident of August 11, 2018, and he signed it. I was the nurse on the 100/200 Hall.”
The allegedly abusive male resident “had been grabbing at [a female resident’s] private area. I did not witness it. I asked if anyone else had seen it. He said no.” The LPN said that the allegedly abusive resident and the other resident “are not in the same area anymore. It requires no intervention.” A third resident “hollered out and [the allegedly abusive resident] stop.” The female resident “will not recall the incident. I wrote out my own incident report.”
The investigators interviewed the third resident who had witnessed the event and stated that the allegedly abusive resident “put his hands on her crotch. He did not touch her there. I told the nurse I do not remember her name. It was a while back. She wrote it down. He was in a wheelchair. She was sitting in the chair. He stopped and touched her. She did nothing; I have not seen him do it since. It has been a while.”
The investigator said that “there were no witness statements or interviews from [any three of the residents] provided by the facility related to the incident.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Abuse Prevention Program that reads in part:
“Any incident or allegation involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, mistreatment or misappropriation of the resident property will result in an investigation. The appointed investigator will, at a minimum attempt to interview the person who reported the incident, anyone likely to have direct knowledge of the incident and the resident, if interview-able.”
“Any written statements that have been submitted will be reviewed, along with any pertinent medical records or other documents. Residents to whom the accused has regularly provided care, and the employees with whom the accused has regularly worked, will be interviewed.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 23, 2018, the state investigators noted that the nursing home had “failed to develop and implement an individualized, person-centered Care Plan for one of fourteen residents reviewed for dementia care.” The incident involved a severely cognitively impaired resident who was treated for dementia and receiving medication every day for a mood disorder.”
The resident’s Progress Note dated October 16, 2018, revealed that the patient was “holding the closet door closed.” The documentation shows that there was another resident “inside the closet. The patient stated she wanted to the black people out of her house.” The nursing staff gave the resident their medication which provided “positive results.”
The surveyors interviewed a Registered Nurse (RN) / Director of Clinical Reimbursement just after noon on October 18, 2018, who said that the dementia patient has problems related to her condition. The facility Administrator said, no, that is not a person-centered Care Plan.” The Administrator said “we do not have a policy and care plans for dementia care. We follow the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI).”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated October 23, 2018, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “adequately develop an ongoing infection control program that adequately collects data to calculate and analyze infection rates.” The nursing home also “failed to operationalize infection control policies to define infection control proactive in the facility.”
The surveyor said that this deficient practice “has the potential to affect all fifty-five residents living in the facility.” The investigative team reviewed physician’s orders concerning medications for the treatment of infections and noted that “neither of these antibodies was logged in the infection control log for [September] and October. The surveyors interviewed the Director of Nursing who stated, “yes, I expect all antibiotics to be on the Infection Control Log.”
As a part of the investigation, the surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Infection Prevention and Control Program that reads in part:
“The elements of the infection prevention and control program consist of coordination/oversight, policies/procedures, surveillance, data analysis, antibiotic stewards, outbreak management, prevention of infection, and employee health and safety.”
“Surveillance tools are used for recognizing the occurrence of infections, recording their number and frequency, detecting outbreaks and epidemics, monitoring employee infections, and detecting unusual pathogens with infection control implications.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 21, 2017, the state surveyors noted that the nursing home had “failed to report an allegation of resident-to-resident abuse immediately to the Administrator, investigate the allegation of abuse and report the allegation of abuse to the Illinois Department of Public Health.”
The surveyors reviewed a resident’s Progress Notes dated August 12, 2017, documenting that one resident “was sitting at a table that this resident usually sits at, cussing at each other, causing upset to others.” The staff was “unable to redirect until [one resident] finished eating and [the nurse] got her to leave the dining room.” During an interview with the facility Administrator, it was revealed that “she was not notified of this incident.”
Do you believe that your loved one was the victim of abuse, mistreatment or neglect while they were living at Integrity Healthcare of Smithton? If so, contact the 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 St. Clair County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Smithton. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our knowledgeable attorneys can offer legal assistance on your behalf to ensure your case for financial compensation is successfully resolved against every party that caused your loved one harm. Our lawyers accept all cases involving wrongful death, nursing home neglect, or personal injury 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 law office provides every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to secure financial compensation on your behalf, 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 Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home