When nursing abuse victims fear for their safety due to threats and repeated abuse; their anonymity can be the difference between reporting their plight to authorities and choosing to suffer in silence. Illinois has indicated in the past that it takes abuse very seriously and is one of the states in the country that still […]
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, numerous elderly members of society suffer from physical, emotional, mental and verbal abuse every year. The NCEA posts statistics on elder abuse that are readily available to the public. The NCEA has found that the majority of senior citizens are abused by family members, however, statistics indicating […]
Of all the different types of injuries that nursing home patients may be susceptible to, falls remain one of the more difficult types of incidents to entirely prevent. By law, each patient in a nursing home needs to be assessed and re-assessed to determine what safeguards are appropriate to keep the patient safe. In the […]
A nasty secret in the nursing home industry remains that a significant number of facilities have little or no liability insurance to cover situations where a patient (or visitor) suffers an injury due to neglect or abuse. Of course, no one ever goes into a nursing home with the expectation that they may be injured […]
The Chicago area has been struck by a snap of arctic weather lately. It’s the kind of weather that quickly brings a chill to every part of your body regardless of how quickly you can do what needs to be done and get back to a warm area. When I read news clippings about a […]
Number of nursing homes in Illinois: 789 Patients living in Illinois nursing homes: 75,218 Occupancy rates of Illinois nursing homes: 78.6% Average number of deficiencies at each Illinois nursing home: 9.3 Percent of Illinois nursing homes with serious deficiencies for actual harm to patient: 42.7% Most common deficiencies at Illinois nursing homes: Accident Environment, Professional […]
The process of obtaining medical records in Illinois can be a frustrating experience for surviving loved ones. Nursing homes are often reluctant to divulge “sensitive” documents, and – compounding the problem- family members are required to go to probate court, by law. The probate process tends to be an extremely time-consuming and inconvenient experience for […]
The death of a 42-year-old Paul McCann, a resident at an Illinois Group Home is raising some eyebrows both regarding the type of care provided to people in these living arrangements and the lack of transparency the state has in place with respect to regulation of these facilities. The Chicago Tribune recently had an insightful […]
The Chicago Tribune recently reported that 129 nursing home patients have been diagnosed with norovirus at three un-named nursing homes in McHenry County. As authorities from the Illinois Department of Health investigate this norovirus outbreak, six patients have already been hospitalized for this illness. Norovirus is an illnesses that include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some […]
Will County, Illinois Judge Amy-Bertani-Tomczak has set a December 2nd court date for two sisters facing criminal neglect charges relating to the care of their mother. Prosecutors brought the charges against Bernice Brandon and Elizabeth Williams after a medical examiner determined that their neglect contributed to the death of their mother, Hattie Smith. According to […]
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