Criminal Charges May Be Brought Against Chicago-Area Nursing Home In Connection To Resident’s Death

Investigators from the Itasca Police Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health are looking into the recent death of an Alzheimer’s resident in a Chicagoland nursing home.  Sara Wentworth, an 89-year-old woman was found death a short distance from door at the The Arbor of Itasca.  Nursing home records indicate that personnel had last checked on the woman at 3 a.m. and area police were notified at 5:40 a.m. when the patient was lying on a gurney not breathing.

DuPage County Coroner Peter Siekmann said Wentworth had been outside for at least 90 minutes before a nursing home worker found her and brought her back inside. Nursing home workers told police they heard an alarm sounding from a door leading to the courtyard.  However, when staff attempted to look into the situation, they did not see did not take any further action.

Wentworth’s daughter, Catherine Shain, said police had told her that her mother had gotten through two sets of doors and walked about 100 yards to the area where her body was found.  Despite the fact Wentworth required a walker to get around, no walker was found by her body.

The DuPage County, Illinois State’s Attorney’s office will evaluate the evidence surrounding this matter and determine if criminal charges are warranted against the nursing home or individual employees. Read more about the death of this Chicago-area nursing home resident here.

How can a nursing home worker can ignore door alarm?  This really is no different that a worker ignoring a call light or an alarm on a ventilator.  This act goes beyond negligence and certainly reaches the level of a willful disregard for the safety of residents.  No word yet on any disciplinary action taken against the lazy nursing home employee(s)….

 

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