Family members must often entrust the care of their loved one to nursing home professionals to ensure they receive the highest level of health care and hygiene assistance. Unfortunately, many residents in nursing facilities become the victims of mistreatment, neglect, abuse or personal injury that results in severe harm or wrongful death.
If your loved one was mistreated or abused while residing in a Greene County nursing facility, contact the Illinois Nursing Home Law Center attorneys for immediate legal intervention. Let our team of lawyers work on your behalf to ensure your family is adequately compensated for your damages. We will use the law to hold those responsible for your harm legally accountable.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing facility is a "for profit" home providing services to residents of White Hall and Greene County, Illinois. The 119-certified bed long-term care center is located at:
620 West Bridgeport
White Hall, Illinois, 62092
(217) 374-2144
In addition to providing around-the-clock skilled nursing care, White Hall Nursing and Rehab Center also offers other services that include:
The federal government and the state of Illinois are authorized to penalize any nursing home with monetary fines or deny payment for Medicare services when the facility has been cited for serious violations of regulations.
Within the last three years, White Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has received nine formally filed complaints and self-reported one serious issue that all resulted in citations. Additional information about fines and penalties can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
Families can visit the Illinois Department of Public Health and Medicare.gov websites to obtain a complete list of all health violations, dangerous hazards, safety concerns, incident inquiries, opened investigations, and filed complaints. The regularly updated information can be used to make a well-informed decision on which LTC facilities in the community provide the highest level of care.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including two 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 Greene County neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at White Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated March 20, 2018, the state investigator documented the facility’s failure to “notify the Physician of a change in condition for one of five residents reviewed for notification.”
The survey team reviewed a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Written Witness Statement dated March 4, 2018, that shows that the CNA last saw the resident at 1:30 AM. It also documents that the resident “was groping a female’s breasts with both hands laying across the female [who] was slapping and pushing him to get away hollering. He [the resident] left and would not get out of the room.”
During the event, the meal “started pulling her rocking chair out to the hall.” A written witness statement documents that a different CNA last saw the resident between 1:20 AM and 1:25 AM documenting that he “was groping a female resident’s breasts [and that the female resident] was slapping at him trying to get away. It continues that the male resident “laughed about it, took a swing at the nurse trying to hit her in the stomach and she is six months pregnant.” The male resident “also tried to bite [the CNAs] finger.”
A review of the Departmental Notes (Nurse’s Notes) dated March 4, 2018, at 6:02 AM shows that the male resident “was found in a female resident’s room at approximately 1:30 AM, groping female resident’s breasts.” The female resident was smacking the male resident away and yelling “no.”
The documentation shows that the Director of Nursing “was notified and instructed the nurse to send the resident to the hospital.” The male resident “left the building at approximately 2:15 AM” in the ambulance.
Nurse’s Notes documented at 7:30 AM that same day shows that “after the investigation, it was noted that the [male resident] was not involved in a resident-to-resident altercation. This resident wanders into peers’ rooms and crawled into [a female resident’s bed, but no inappropriate physical contact had been made.” The male resident “was sent to psychiatric for evaluation and treatment due to resident-to-staff physical contact.” The Director of Nursing made these notations.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “identify and assess a pressure wound and failed to follow Physician’s orders.” This failure by the nursing staff resulted in a resident “developing a facility-acquired unstageable pressure ulcer.”
The survey team reviewed the resident’s Skin and Wound Evaluation Form dated September 8, 2017, that shows that the resident has a left venous ulcer, left inner ankle wound, left outer foot peri-wound, a sacrum Stage II peri-wound, a Stage II right issue him pressure injury, a left medial ankle wound, and a left heel necrotic pressure injury.
The surveyors interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Wound Nurse in the morning of September 26, 2017 who “remove the dressing that was partially off of [the resident’s] left heel, cleansed [the resident’s] left heel with wound cleanser and applied a foam border dressing, put the foam cup on and place the foot back in the Off-Loading Boot.”
The LPN told the surveyors “I do not agree with the wound clinic’s orders; I put the foam dressing on the wound because it is an open wound and needs to be covered with a dressing.” A review of the resident’s Treatment Administration Record dated September 20, 2017, through September 30, 2017, shows that the LPN cleansed the resident’s “left heel with normal saline and applied foam cup and placed it in the Off-Loading Boot. No documentation was made that [the LPN] put the foam dressing on.”
A review of the resident’s Weekly Wound Report “does not address [the resident’s] wound to his left heel. The only documentation of [the resident’s] wound on his left heel is on the Skin and Bath Report dated September 13, 2017.” While there were measurements of the wound, there was “no signature as who did the measurements. No further wound measurements or assessments were made of the wound on [the resident’s] heels on September 13, 2017.”
The investigators interviewed the Wound Clinic RN (Registered Nurse) Certified Wound Nurse who said “I was not aware that the facility was putting the foam border dressing on his left heel; that is not what I ordered. A phone border dressing can provide a moist environment; it could have provided more moisture which could prevent healing.”
During an interview with the facility Director of Nursing, it was revealed that the LPN “should have called the doctor to clarify the orders that she did not agree with them.” The investigators reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Pressure Ulcers that was last revised in February 2017 that reads in part:
“It is the practice of this facility to ensure residents with pressure ulcers receive necessary evaluation and treatment to promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new ulcers from developing.”
“Initiate appropriate treatment per treatment protocol and Physician’s order. Documentation of the wound status will occur at least once a week. This weekly evaluation will be documented electronically or on the Wound Evaluation Form/Skin Condition Form as appropriate. The Physician is to be notified if there is no improvement in the area.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, the state investigators documented that the facility had failed to “safely transfer residents using a full mechanical body lift for three of four residents reviewed for mechanical lift transfers.”
The state surveyors observed two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) transferring a resident “from her wheelchair to her bed with a full mechanical lift.” Both CNAs secured the resident “in the sling onto the lift.” One CNA told the resident “to hold on the lift’s overhead crossbar.”
The resident “was able to independently put her right hand on the crossbar and [the CNA took the resident’s] left hand and applied it to the crossbar.” The CNA raised the lift, and the resident’s “arms were stretch upward, and once [their] arms are fully extended, her left and right hands fell onto her lap. While the lift was being raised to [the resident’s] maximum arm extension, [the resident said] ‘Ouch.’”
During an interview with the Director of Nursing and the Administrator, the Administrator said: “No, they should never put the resident’s hands of their, the staff no better than that.” The Director of Nursing said, “absolutely not, our staff is not to have the resident hold onto the bar above their head, they will be retrained.”
In a separate summary statement of deficiencies dated August 9, 2018, the state investigators noted that the nursing home “failed to develop/implement effective care plans to prevent falls and failed to ensure safety devices were in place.”
The nursing home also “failed to provide adequate supervision and safe transfers used for three of six residents reviewed for falls.” These failures by the nursing staff resulted in the resident “having multiple falls with a laceration requiring staples in his head sustained in a fall on July 16, 2018, and [another resident] falling on “July 19, 2018, resulting in a fractured right hip requiring surgery/closed reduction.”
In a third summary statement of deficiencies dated May 10, 2018, the state investigators noted that “the facility failed to provide a safe transfer for one of six residents reviewed for falls.” This incident involved a review of a resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) Assessment that shows that the resident “requires extensive assistance and 2+ persons physical assistance for transfers.”
The resident’s Moore’s Fall Scale dated May 14, 2017, shows a score of 80 when a score of 46 and above identifies a high risk for falls. A review of the facility Resident Incident Report dated March 4, 2018, shows that the resident “was being transferred from her wheelchair to her bed by [a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)]. The report documents [the resident’s] knees buckled, and she stopped bearing her own weight.” At that time, the CNA lowered the resident to the floor.
The form also documents “immediate post-incident action [including] advise to transfer the resident with the assist of two persons.” The survey team interviewed the facility Administrator who said that the resident’s “transferability was coded wrong on the MDS (Minimum Data Set).”
The Administrator said that “she would expect staff to provide the required assistance for transfers.” The next day, the Administrator said that “the facility does not have a policy or procedure on fall prevention, but that they follow the facility policy on Risk Evaluations.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated September 28, 2017, a surveyor noted the nursing home's failure to “provide proper hand hygiene and failed to change soiled gloves while providing incontinent care for five of nineteen residents reviewed for infection control.”
The state surveyors observed two Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) performing incontinent care on a resident “after having a bowel movement.” One CNA assisted the other CNA with the incontinent care and positioned the resident “onto her right side in bed.” That CNAs “glove was then visible with fecal matter and while wearing the soiled gloves, [the CNA] continued repositioning the resident and touched [the resident’s] clothing and bedding. After repositioning [the resident] and adjusting clothing and bedding, [the CNAs] glove was absent of the fecal material.”
The surveyors asked the CNA “about the fecal matter on her gloves.” The CNA responded that “I saw that on my glove, but I do not know what happened to it.” The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Infection Control dated 2009 under Personal Protective Equipment – Using Gloves Objectives that reads in part:
“To prevent the spread of infection, during delivery of health care, avoid unnecessary touching of services [near] the patient to prevent both contaminations of clean hands from environmental surfaces and transmission of pathogens from contaminated hands to surface.”
Do you have suspicions that your loved one was injured or harmed while living at White Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center? If so, contact the Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 now. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Greene County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in White Hall. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Allow our reputable attorneys to handle every aspect of your compensation claim against every individual or entity that caused harm to your loved one. Our years of experience in handling nursing home abuse recompense claims can ensure a successful resolution of your case. We accept all cases of wrongful death, nursing home abuse, and personal injury through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement postpones your need to make a payment for our legal services until after your case is successfully resolved through a negotiated out of court settlement or jury trial award.
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Attorney Jonathan Rosenfeld
Licensed in Illinois
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home