More Residents Die at Alden Village North

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that five more death from allegedly substandard care have occurred at Alden Village North. This facility is already slated to be closed by State of Illinois' Department of Public Health. The article quotes Deborah Kennedy, of the watchdog group Equip for Equality as saying, "What we're seeing (at Alden Village North) is a culture within a nursing home that tolerated lackadaisical, substandard care for years."

An investigation by Equip for Equality found that in many instances poor care directly led to the untimely death of a resident and in other instances the poor care led to an earlier death than may have otherwise occurred. In any event, this lack of basic care as detailed by Equip for Equality is morally and legally wrong.

The Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect attorneys at Keating Law Offices, P.C. have handled numerous cases against various Alden facilities. The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act allows an adult resident of a nursing home or their family to pursue a civil lawsuit against a nursing home for any negligence by the facility or its staff that results in an injury or death. Under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act, the nursing home is liable for damages from the injury or death.

The report details the death of one girl who was found to have a treatable infection. Despite the diagnosis of the infection, the girl was first not given appropriate antibiotics and then once the proper antibiotics were prescribed, there was an additional delay in the administering of the antibiotics. The girl later died as a consequence of the infection. This is an unfortunate example of a failure of the nursing staff and the girl's physician to work together as a team and to give the girl the appropriate medication she needed. According to the report, it was the failure of the nursing staff and her doctor that led to the girl's death.

In December of 2010, officials at Alden Village North claimed that they were making significant improvements to the facility. At that time 13 children had died at the facility. Keating Law Offices wrote on this matter on www.ILNursingHomeAttorney.com in a post that can be found by clicking here.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, please contact Illinois Nursing Home Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com. All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Illinois Nursing Homes Often Pay Small Percentage of Illinois Fines

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Alden network of nursing homes and other facilities often pay a small percentage of fines levied by the State of Illinois for violations of the state regulations for nursing homes. The Tribune investigation found that of a sample of nursing homes that care for disabled children only 21% of fines levied by the State were ultimately paid by the nursing homes.

It is important to note when the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act was enacted the Illinois legislature put into place strong protections for nursing home residents. Section 601 of the Act provides that a nursing home resident, or the family or guardian of the resident, may proceed with a civil lawsuit against a nursing home for any intentional or negligent act or omission by the staff at a nursing home. Section 602 of the Act provides that a negligent nursing home is responsible for any actual damages AND the attorney's fees in any case where the nursing home is found liable.

The significance of these sections of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act is that a nursing home residents or their family/guardian are not limited to the disciplinary actions of the State of Illinois. The other option is to pursue a civil claim, which is most commonly referred to as a lawsuit. Due to these provisions in the Act, the lawsuit can be brought by retained an Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney. With the representation of the attorney, the nursing home can be pursued and the nursing home could be responsible for any damages they caused and the attorney's fees if the nursing home is found liable by a judge or jury.

Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney Mike Keating handles nursing home abuse and neglect cases on a contingency fee basis in accordance with the Illinois Rules of Professional Responsibility. This way the nursing home resident or their representatives are not forced to pay any attorney's fees or expenses in advance.
If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, please contact Illinois Nursing Home Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com. All initial consultations are confidential and free.