Qualified Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys are often advocates for better care. They see the worst cases of abuse and neglect and are often the only voice for the injured. Equally important as representing these victims is helping to prevent Illinois nursing home neglect or abuse in the first place.

We’ve discussed many factors to consider when selecting a nursing home or long term care facility for a loved one. By knowing the proper questions to ask ahead of time, you can help to prevent your loved one from becoming a victim.

Our Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer suggests the following questions you should ask when reviewing a facility’s licensing and certification.

• “Is this facility Medicare certified and/or Medicaid certified?”
• “Is this a skilled nursing facility and is a skilled bed available?”
• “Is this facility accepting new patients? Is there a waiting period for admission?”
• “If this facility is sponsored by a nonprofit organization and managed under contract with a commercial firm, what are the conditions of that contract?”
• “Is there a resident council or organization through which resident/family have a means of voicing their views on the management of the community?”(This is required by law)
• “Does this facility have a current license/certification and is it displayed?” (Each state requires the residence to be licensed and/or certified.)
• “Does the administrator for the facility have his/her current license/certification?” (Each state requires the administrator to be licensed/certified.)
• “What reputation does this facility have in the community?”
•  ”How long has this facility been in business? Is it in good financial health? Does the facility follow generally accepted accounting procedures?”
• “Has this facility corrected any Quality of Care deficiencies in their State inspection report”

  Source: HelpGuide.org

For more information on evaluating nursing home facilities in the state of Illinois, contact an Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer today.

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Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers regularly advocate for the rights of aging citizens, and work tirelessly to help educate the public on preventing Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse.

When faced with the difficult decision to place a loved one in long term care, Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say there are many things families should consider.  Once you’ve decided long term care is the appropriate choice, you will need to select a facility - which can be very daunting. A good place to start your research into a facility’s history of care is to review its previous state inspections.  Unfortunately, say Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers, state inspections of long-term care facilities happen, at best, on an annual basis and the information regarding any violations is typically slow to be updated for review online. However, facilities are required by law to make information regarding their most recent inspection available upon request.

Knowing what appeared on previous inspections can help you to know what questions to ask (like how a violation has been corrected and/or resolved). Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say you should always bear in mind that state inspections are rarely done without prior notification and therefore, do not represent conditions found as a matter of routine.

Says one Chicago nursing home abuse attorney,

“Poor quality of care for residents within long-term care facilities are often masked by the presentation of an environment that appears organized and clean.  During a random review of the information provided online, fifty-percent of listed facilities with multiple violations in previous years received new or recurring violations, equal or greater in number than previous years, suggesting that state inspections and imposed fines are ineffective against dangerous conditions that lead to preventable illness and injury, abuse and neglect.”

Evaluating a facility for the potential care of your loved one is a process that should ultimately be done in person, and approached from several vital avenues. Knowing what questions to ask beforehand and what to look for can help safeguard your loved one from injury, abuse, and Illinois nursing home neglect.

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As parents get older and struggle to take care of themselves, their adult children often struggle with the difficult decision of whether or not to place them in a long-term care or assisted living facility. How do you know when the time is right? Are you putting them in danger? Will they receive proper care? In Illinois, nursing home neglect and abuse are on the rise, so concerns are certainly valid.

There are many things to consider when selecting a nursing home, say Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers who represent victims of Illinois nursing home neglect. But first, you have to make the decision whether or not your loved one needs specialized care. Each person’s needs are unique. Some seniors only have short-term needs, such as after a broken hip or surgery which requires a brief hospitalization followed by rehabilitation. But many aging citizens end up having long-term needs which will require specialized care. This is common following the progression of Alzheimer’s, extreme frailty, or a stroke.

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys recommend long-term care if your loved one meets any of the following criteria:

• Unable to take basic care of themselves because of physical, emotional, or mental problems;
• Cannot care for their own personal needs such as eating, bathing, using the restroom, ambulating, or taking medication;
• Requires more care than can be provided by a care giver;
• Cannot live alone;
• May wander away if unsupervised;
• Has extensive medical needs requiring daily attention or monitoring by RN supervised by an MD;
• Has been recommended for a nursing home by a physician.

If your loved one meets one or more of these criteria, you should consider long term care. In the next few posts, our Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer will explain what to look for when selecting a nursing home, and how you can help your loved one avoid becoming the victim of Illinois nursing home neglect or abuse.

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When a loved one is in nursing home or long-term care in Illinois, family members often struggle with concerns or doubts about the quality of care being provided. While Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse are certainly on the rise, there are many things a family can do to help ensure their loved one is being treated with dignity and respect, or to effectively advocate for change when standards are not met.

One of the best ways families can help enact change and monitor care is to develop or join a family council. It is a federal requirement that facilities provide some type of family council program. Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say becoming involved in a family council is really one of the best things a family member can do to help their loved one, because it often takes the action of a group to enact change. The strength of a cohesive group with a common goal often outweighs the efforts of an individual. In the state of Illinois, nursing home negligence lawyers say a lone advocate has very little chance of getting new legislation passed without the support of others.

Our Chicago nursing home abuse attorney explains three main functions of an Illinois nursing home family council:

1. To protect and improve the quality of life for residents of the home
2. To give family members a voice in decisions which affect them and their loved ones
3. To further specific goals of each facility, such as offering education and information, planning services and activities for residents, or planning action on concerns or complaints.

Although each family council is different, a typical council has 5-10 members and meets monthly at the nursing home.

Family councils have the right to exclude staff members from meetings. Federal law dictates that a nursing home facility must provide a place for family councils to meet, must answer questions posed by the council, and must give support where it is needed (for example, allowing posters to be placed in the facility, advertising the family council and giving information on meetings and agenda).

If you have questions about the function of a family council, contact an attorney who specializes in Illinois nursing home neglect today.

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Consider this: If you have speeding ticket that you haven’t taken care of, you cannot get your vehicle registration renewed until you have dealt with your penalty accordingly. However, say Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers, nursing homes are easily renewing their registration with the state despite having outstanding unpaid fines for violations (currently, renewal is due every 15 months).

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say residents and their families can help enact legislative change in our system. First, contact your State Representative or Senator and demand improvements to the system.

Many advocates believe the only thing that will dramatically impact the system and is MONEY. Currently, fines enforced on nursing homes for violations, when imposed, are typically whittled down to pennies on the dollar. Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say fines are even rescinded sometimes, which should never be the case! A violation is more than just a violation: it means a resident has been mistreated or a facility has failed to live up to the minimum requirements of the state.

Once a facility receives a fine for violations, that fine simply must be collected. That is the only way to force change in facilities that are providing sub-standard care.

For more information about Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse, contact a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney today. Those who are truly advocates for our aging citizens are already fighting for legislative change.

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In Illinois, nursing home abuse and neglect are becoming far too commonplace. Often left in silent despair, many elderly patients feel they have no voice. The Ombudsman program, developed in the early 1970s, exists to advocate for the rights of these patients. Their purpose is to investigate and resolve complaints on behalf of those who are suffering.

Nursing home residents cannot rely solely on the Ombudsman program, however, because it is simply impossible for the Ombudsmen to adequately monitor each and every resident in the state. Thus, Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys suggest residents and their families call the state Ombudsmen program directly when a concern arises; families should get their hands on all the information they can, and be very vigilant in reading and understanding contracts before resigning a loved one to a facility.

According to federal law, local Ombudsmen are to do everything possible to help protect Illinois nursing home residents and victims of Illinois nursing home neglect. One clear way the program is failing on this front is in educating the public. Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers find the citizens of Illinois are simply unaware of the crisis of neglect and abuse running rampant through the system of long-term care. Were citizens better informed, they may become better advocates for proper care of the aging and elderly residents of our state.

Many advocates argue the Ombudsmen program could do a far better job in helping to educate the public. Our state Ombudsmen program has only held one press conference in the last several years. You will rarely, if ever, read about the crisis in local news coverage from the standpoint of the Ombudsmen program. This program should be the voice of residents – proclaiming to the public the truth about the crisis of Illinois nursing home neglect.

To find out more about the Ombudsmen program and how you can help, contact a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney today.

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In the last post, we briefly discussed the different types of nursing home and assisted living environments available to aging patients. Our Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer described the roll of the Ombudsman in advocating for resident’s rights. But some may wonder if the roll of the Ombudsman extends to each environment. Can the local Ombudsman help protect residents’ and families’ rights in an assisted living environment as equally as they are purposed to do in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities?

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say “yes”. Ombudsmen are supposed to go into each and every long term care facility. In some states, Ombudsmen may even go into the homes of patients that are living at home with a waiver rather than living as residents of a facility. This isn’t the case, however, in the state of Illinois. Nursing home negligence lawyers say Ombudsman must go into every type of facility in the state that is licensed or certified. Unfortunately, this purpose is often difficult to fulfill.

A major cause for concern with the Ombudsman program is that it is chronically understaffed due to lack of budget. There simply are not enough Ombudsmen to serve all of the residents of the state in what might be considered a reasonable or timely fashion. Illinois nursing home neglect attorneys say the legislature has yet to properly fund the Ombudsman program to actually visit people in nursing homes, let alone assisted living and supported living environments. Some estimates indicate the state would need to provide an additional $3 million in funding for the program to successfully represent residents with an appropriate ratio of Ombudsman to patient. Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say this is unlikely if not impossible.

If you have questions about Illinois nursing home neglect or the role of the Ombudsman in advocating for your loved one, contact an Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer today.

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When an elderly person can no longer live safely on their own, they have many options for care. There are numerous assisted living environments to choose from, including: assisted living homes, community living, long-term care, and skilled nursing.  Understanding the difference between these environments and the role of care providers in each can help prevent Illinois nursing home neglect or abuse.

In and around Chicago, nursing home abuse attorneys are vocal advocates for better care among residents in long-term care facilities. Perhaps the most important advocate for these residents, however, is the local Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman program was created in the early 1970’s by the National Older Americans Act to help protect the rights of nursing home residents by investigating and resolving their complaints. Throughout the state of Illinois, nursing home negligence lawyers tell us, there are seventeen regional ombudsman programs currently working under the auspices of the Illinois Department on Aging.

The Ombudsman program helps assure Illinois nursing home residents receive quality of care and dignity of life at the highest practical level.

Certified Ombudsmen visit residents 60 years of age or older in long-term care facilities monthly to inform residents of their rights, inform residents and their family members of the right to organize, and to help resolve problems.

If you have questions about Illinois nursing home neglect or abuse, or need help locating the Illinois long-term care ombudsmen serving your county, contact our Chicago nursing home abuse attorney today.

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Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse run rampant through skilled nursing facilities in our state. Though these facilities should be regulated and regularly reviewed according to the law, there is little to no incentive for facilities to improve their standard of care, since the fines levied against care providers for abuse, neglect or other violations are negotiated and whittled down to pennies on the dollar, if imposed at all.

With an estimated 20,000 empty beds within the state’s current facilities, Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say strategies are routinely put into place to ensure patients who enter a facility never leave, and that future, better facilities cannot be built.

As long as communities remain uninformed and therefore, fail to demand change within the culture surrounding the care of our most frail and aging, these instances of  terror and abuse will continue. The public has the power to alter both the expectations of care and the ramifications of criminal activity that to date go without punishment under law.  Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys are among the most vocal advocates for change through litigation.

There are better methods in place within a limited community of facilities, called Pioneer Practices, featuring a quality of care that supports both residents and staff members. This environment of support should become the model of expectation for all facilities, as it saves lives and is far more cost-effective than abuse and neglect.

For more information on how you can help prevent Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse, contact an Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer today.

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When faced with the shameful occurence of Illinois nursing home abuse, patients and their families are sometimes forced to seek legal representation. Without the professional guidance of a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney, residents may never see change or receive compensation for their injury.

In truth, private sector lawsuits against a nursing home facility have become the most effective course of action available today. Litigation begins when a family member obtains an Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer and takes matters into their own hands, as well as into the courts. For that reason, personal injury cases involving abuse, neglect or other crimes against persons within a long-term care environment are provided special consideration under the law in Illinois.

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say that these cases, though worthy of legal action, represent preventable illness, injury and devastation after-the-fact, leaving scars that will never heal, no matter how great the verdict in dollars. It is an unfair and broken system in which justice is left to the family of an abused and neglected patient as a means to compensate for lack of oversight, or the facilities’ own failure to comply with both Illinois state and federal laws.

If you have questions about Illinois nursing home neglect, abuse or other legal oversight, contact an Illinois nursing home negligence lawyer today if you live in or around Chicago. Nursing home abuse attorneys can help you obtain the justice you and your loved ones undoubtedly deserve.

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