Mistreatment of the elderly, infirmed, rehabilitating and disabled in nursing homes often involve physical harm, emotional injury, sexual assault, or neglect. Many times, the indicators of mistreatment are difficult to identify because of the resident’s mental or physical status. Even so, every caregiver in a nursing home is responsible for protecting the resident to ensure their safety, health, and care while they rehabilitate, live out their final years or get better.
Was your loved one victimized through mistreatment or abuse while residing in a Coles County nursing facility? If so, the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center lawyers can provide immediate legal intervention. Contact our Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys, let us start working on your case today to ensure your family receives adequate financial compensation to recover your damages.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing center is a "for profit" home providing services to residents of Mattoon and Coles County, Illinois. The 148-certified bed long-term care (LTC) home is located at:
2121 South Ninth
Mattoon, Illinois, 61938
(217) 235-7138
In addition to providing 24/7 skilled nursing care, Mattoon Rehab & Health Care Center also offers services including:
Illinois nursing home regulators and federal inspectors are legally authorized to penalize any nursing home identified as violating rules and regulations that harmed or could have harmed a resident. Typically, these penalties include monetary fines and denial for payment of medical services.
Within the last three years, nursing home regulatory agencies have levied two serious monetary penalties against Mattoon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. These penalties include a $48,721 fine on June 28, 2017, and a $9842 fine on December 9, 2016, for a total of $58,563. Also, the facility received thirteen formally filed complaints and self-reported six serious issues that all resulted in citations. Additional information about penalties and fines can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
To ensure families are fully informed of the services and care that every long-term care facility offers in their community, the state of Illinois routinely updates their comprehensive list of safety concerns, opened investigations, incident inquiries, health violations, dangerous hazards, and filed complaints of homes statewide and posts the resulting data on the Medicare.gov website. This data can be used to make an informed decision before placing a loved one in a private or government-run facility.
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 two out of five stars for quality measures. The Coles County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Mattoon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated August 23, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “notify the physician of a resident’s change in mental status and respiratory distress.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff involved one resident “reviewed for hospitalization.”
The investigative team reviewed the Wound Nurse’s Progress Note dated August 22, 2018, at 6:55 AM. The note revealed that the wound nurse was called by a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) “to assist with paperwork dissent [the resident] to the emergency department.” Upon entering the resident’s room, the resident was noted to have a pale color and “skin temperature was cooled to touch. Attempted to attain a blood pressure in the left arm but was unsuccessful. Unable to locate a radial pulse and the left wrist or pedal pulse in either foot.” The LPN could not hear a heart rate and found the pulse in the right wrist “weak and thready.”
A Registered Nurse (RN) stated that “at about 3:30 AM, on August 8, 2018 [the resident put on their] call light and stated [they were] having trouble breathing.” The Registered Nurse said that the resident “was coughing and choking on phlegm [when they] administered a nebulizer breathing treatment to [the resident and then used the resident’s] inhaler.”
The resident used her call light again to say that the nebulizer and inhaler treatments were not helping her breathing. The resident said that “I really feel like I cannot get my breath.” The RN said that the resident “has trouble breathing sometimes at night but this time seemed the worst.” The resident continued to tell the RN “I do not feel right, I do not feel good.” The resident “continued to sit on the side of the bed trying to catch [their] breath.” The Registered Nurse “did not notify [the resident’s physician concerning the resident’s] shortness of breath.”
The survey team interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) who said that “during shift report on August 8, 2018 between 5:45 AM and 6:00 AM, [the Registered Nurse had told him that the resident] started yelling and acting confused between 4:30 AM and 5:00 PM.” The LPN said that they saw the resident “at 6:15 AM and [they were] confused and not [their] usual self.”
The LPN said that the resident “is usually alert and oriented and up independently.” However, that morning, the LPN said the resident “was yelling ‘help me, help me,’ and ‘I do not want to go.’” The documentation revealed that the LPN never made notification of the resident’s change in mental status.
The investigators interviewed the facility Director of Nursing who said that both the Registered Nurse and the LPN should have made the proper notification of the resident’s change in condition to the resident’s physician. The resident’s doctor said that “staff should have notified [them] during the night shift when [the patient’s] condition did not improve, and when [the patient] was noted to be confused at 6:15 AM.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 14, 2017, the state investigative team documented that the facility had failed to “prevent misappropriation of a resident’s narcotic medication (Schedule II).” The patient “is one resident on the supplemental sample reviewed for abuse.”
A Registered Nurse stated to the surveyors that “on the evening of June 25, 2017, at approximately 9:30 PM,” they and another “RN did a narcotic count.” The reporting RN said that they were leaving for the evening shift and the other RN “was coming onto the night shift for duty.”
The day RN stated that the night shift RN “had the cards of narcotics and [they had] the controlled substance book for the use of verification.” One RN called out to the other RN “the actual pills in each card and confirmed the number.” At that time, there were no discrepancies. The first RN gave the second RN the Medication Cart keys.
The surveyors reviewed the facility document titled: Report of Alleged Resident Abuse dated June 26, 2017 that shows that a third Registered Nurse completed the 6:00 AM narcotic count and the night shift Registered Nurse and “at this count, it was found that a full card of narcotics [was missing that was] belonging to [a resident]. An investigation was started immediately after [the night nurse] reported the missing narcotics to the Director of Nursing.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated July 14, 2017, a surveyor noted the nursing home's failure to “ensure that staff wears appropriate Personal Protective Equipment [PPE] while performing direct care for a resident on contact precautions.” The patient is “one of two residents reviewed for infections.”
The state survey team reviewed a resident’s Laboratory Culture that revealed the patient has “an abnormal growth isolate taken by swab from [their] right foot. The laboratory documents [the patient’s] sample as positive for the organism Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). There were no values documented on how many organisms were seen in the culture.”
The Assistant Director of Nursing told the surveyors that the patient “was on contact precautions for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in [their] great right toe. At this time, there was an isolation card containing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) located outside [the patient’s] room. A red sign on the outer door stated ‘Stop; Please See Nurse Before Entering.’” The resident’s room also had “two large biohazard trash bins located inside.”
Just before noon on July 13, 2017, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) entered the patient’s “room to perform perineal/incontinent care without donning gloves.” The CNA “finished the direct care of [the resident, handling their] personal items of incontinence brief, gown, and linens.” The CNA’s “clothing came in direct contact with [the resident’s] bed linens, bedside table and brushed against the biohazard bins.”
A few minutes later the CNA told the observers “I did not think about the gown” stating that they thought the resident “was on contact isolation for Clostridium difficile (CDF),” a different highly contagious bacterial infection. The CNA “acknowledged there were no gowns available in the PPE cart.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 5, 2018, the state survey team documented that the facility had failed to “identify the risk for falls and develop interventions to prevent falls for [one resident] reviewed for falls.” The surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Fall Prevention Policy S.A.F.E. (Safety, Assessment, Fall prevention, Education) that reads in part:
“At the time of admission/readmission, the Fall Risk of Data Collection and Fall Risk Questionnaire will be completed. This policy also documents: Residents found to be at high risk for falls are placed on the S.A.F.E. Program, and specific interventions are implemented to meet individual needs.”
The survey team reviewed the resident’s Hospital History and Physical Report dated August 19, 2018, that shows that the patient “was a fall risk and was placed on fall precautions.” The resident’s Nursing Admission/Readmission Data Collection form dated August 24, 2018, shows that the patient “requires extensive assistance with activities of daily living, transfers, toilet use, and personal hygiene.”
The report also indicates that the resident “has bruising over [their] left scapula from a fall and bruising to both upper extremities, anterior and posterior, from [their] spouse attempting to prevent [the patient] from falling.” The document also shows that the resident “uses a walker and a wheelchair and [has] had a fall within the last month [before] admission to the facility.”
The resident’s Fall Investigation notes that on August 25, 2018, at 7:10 PM, the patient “was observed, by an unidentified staff member, walking across the hall independently without a walker. The staff is unable to get to the [patient before the patient] fell backward hitting [their] head on the floor.” A full body assessment was completed and [the patient] sustained a hematoma on the back of [their] head. An ambulance was called for [the patient, and when it arrived], the medical technicians perform an assessment.”
At that time, the patient “refused to go to the hospital.” The Ambulance Run Report documents that the patient “has a large hematoma on the back of [their] head. No other signs of injury. The patient complained of some tenderness on the hematoma but no other pain. Staff was advised to monitor [the patient] for any changes in quality and once again if needed.” The resident “signed a refusal for the emergency personnel.”
Do you suspect that your loved one shows indicators of mistreatment, abuse or neglect while living at Mattoon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center? If so, take quick action now by calling 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 Coles County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Mattoon. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our seasoned attorneys provide legal representation to LTC home residents who have been harmed by negligence and abuse. Our legal team has years of experience in successfully resolving claims for compensation against caregivers who must be held accountable. We accept all nursing home cases involving personal injury, abuse, and wrongful death through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones the need to make a payment to pay for legal services until after your case is successfully resolved through a jury trial award or negotiated out of court settlement.
Our network of attorneys offers every client a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee, meaning if we are unable to resolve your case successfully, you owe us nothing. 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 Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home