The nursing home abuse attorneys at Keating Law Offices secured over one million dollars through a settlement for a family who lost their mother and father at Champaign County Nursing Home. The Champaign County Board agreed to pay the settlement totaling $1,025,000.00.
Despite an aggressive defense waged against the family of the deceased mother and father, attorneys Mike Keating and Tom Reuland gathered enough evidence that the wrongful deaths were the result of nursing home negligence to secure one of the largest settlements in Central Illinois for this type of case. The nursing home claimed that in the case of the father it provided the best care it could under the circumstances and in the case of the mother her unwitnessed fall was an unfortunate circumstance outside of their control.
The case involved the tragic loss of both a father and a mother within weeks of each other. The father of the family committed suicide with an elastic band that nursing staff admitted should not have been left in his room. Medical records indicated he had a history of suicidal thoughts and harmful behavior leading up to his death, yet no psychological evaluation was performed after admission. After his death, the nursing home ultimately revised its training policies regarding residents who exhibit suicidal tendencies.
After the father died, the family’s mother was devastated. Her overall condition worsened and the lawsuit alleged that the nursing facility failed to properly assess and monitor her following changes in her condition. The mother then suffered an unwitnessed fall and hit her head. This fall caused a brain bleed that ultimately led to her death.
Keating Law Offices identified several communication breakdowns and inadequate assessments regarding the mental and physical health of the residents in this case. These types of breakdowns are all too common in nursing homes in Central Illinois and across the country. If your mother or father is a resident in a nursing home, here are a few steps that you can take to help reduce the likelihood of nursing home abuse or neglect:
1) Talk to management about how the staff communicates with each other and with outside physicians. Communication is key when it comes to treating residents in a nursing home. Sometimes nursing home staff needs to take quick action to address a health issue. You want to be sure that the staff communicates quickly and clearly with the people who can help.
2) Be sure that nursing home staff and management fully understand and appreciate the medical history and needs of your parent. Medical histories are an important factor on which nursing facilities create care plans, assign staffing, and order consultations that are tailored to each individual resident. If they don’t know or understand a resident’s medical history, that resident might not receive necessary care.
3) Find out how a nursing home handles staffing problems. At the very least, the facility should comply with applicable legal staffing requirements regarding the number and qualifications of staff. Beyond the basics, how does the facility deal with staffing shortages, absent nurses, or a worker who suddenly quits? Is the staff adequately paid, or are the nurses who are assigned to care for your mother or father exhausted from working too many shifts or moonlighting at another facility just to make ends meet? Be sure that the nursing home management is well prepared to deal with staffing challenges that frequently arise.
Keating Law Offices represents clients in nursing home negligence and abuse cases throughout Illinois. If you suspect that a resident at a nursing home has been injured, abused, or neglected, then you can call 312-239-6787 or click the "chat now" box for a confidential and free consultation with a qualified and experienced attorney.
Despite an aggressive defense waged against the family of the deceased mother and father, attorneys Mike Keating and Tom Reuland gathered enough evidence that the wrongful deaths were the result of nursing home negligence to secure one of the largest settlements in Central Illinois for this type of case. The nursing home claimed that in the case of the father it provided the best care it could under the circumstances and in the case of the mother her unwitnessed fall was an unfortunate circumstance outside of their control.
The case involved the tragic loss of both a father and a mother within weeks of each other. The father of the family committed suicide with an elastic band that nursing staff admitted should not have been left in his room. Medical records indicated he had a history of suicidal thoughts and harmful behavior leading up to his death, yet no psychological evaluation was performed after admission. After his death, the nursing home ultimately revised its training policies regarding residents who exhibit suicidal tendencies.
After the father died, the family’s mother was devastated. Her overall condition worsened and the lawsuit alleged that the nursing facility failed to properly assess and monitor her following changes in her condition. The mother then suffered an unwitnessed fall and hit her head. This fall caused a brain bleed that ultimately led to her death.
Keating Law Offices identified several communication breakdowns and inadequate assessments regarding the mental and physical health of the residents in this case. These types of breakdowns are all too common in nursing homes in Central Illinois and across the country. If your mother or father is a resident in a nursing home, here are a few steps that you can take to help reduce the likelihood of nursing home abuse or neglect:
1) Talk to management about how the staff communicates with each other and with outside physicians. Communication is key when it comes to treating residents in a nursing home. Sometimes nursing home staff needs to take quick action to address a health issue. You want to be sure that the staff communicates quickly and clearly with the people who can help.
2) Be sure that nursing home staff and management fully understand and appreciate the medical history and needs of your parent. Medical histories are an important factor on which nursing facilities create care plans, assign staffing, and order consultations that are tailored to each individual resident. If they don’t know or understand a resident’s medical history, that resident might not receive necessary care.
3) Find out how a nursing home handles staffing problems. At the very least, the facility should comply with applicable legal staffing requirements regarding the number and qualifications of staff. Beyond the basics, how does the facility deal with staffing shortages, absent nurses, or a worker who suddenly quits? Is the staff adequately paid, or are the nurses who are assigned to care for your mother or father exhausted from working too many shifts or moonlighting at another facility just to make ends meet? Be sure that the nursing home management is well prepared to deal with staffing challenges that frequently arise.
Keating Law Offices represents clients in nursing home negligence and abuse cases throughout Illinois. If you suspect that a resident at a nursing home has been injured, abused, or neglected, then you can call 312-239-6787 or click the "chat now" box for a confidential and free consultation with a qualified and experienced attorney.
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