Heritage Health Dwight
If you’ve been wondering if it’s time to put an elderly loved one into assisted living, you know how complicated of a decision it is. There’s a lot of factors to consider, and your relative may not want to give up their independence yet. But you may be seeing signs that they just can’t handle daily activities anymore and worry about their health and safety. However, is assisted living a safer option?
Most assisted living and care facilities provide excellent, attentive care to residents that improves their quality of life in their later years. However, it is true that reports of nursing home abuse are on the rise and little has been done to address the issue. Staffing shortages, mismanaged facilities, overcrowding, and lack of government oversight all contribute to the tens of thousands of cases of nursing home abuse each year.
Abuse and neglect are all too common in assisted living, but there are things you can do to reduce the risks of your loved one coming to harm in a nursing home. As respected nursing home abuse experts, Levin & Perconti encourages families and individuals to learn how to pick a safe nursing home for elderly relatives.
To help you, we share information like tips about how to protect nursing home residents and government ratings for Illinois nursing homes, like Heritage Health Dwight.
About Heritage Health Dwight
300 East Mazon Avenue
Dwight, IL 60420
(815) 584-1240
Heritage Health Dwight is a Medicare-certified facility with 92 beds. The facility offers long- term, rehabilitation, hospice, and respite care. Services include physical, occupational, and speech therapies as well as diet and nutrition services.
Medicare rates Heritage Health Dwight as Above Average overall, with a Below Average quality measures rating, Average staffing rating, and Above Average health inspection rating.
Levin & Perconti finds health inspection reports to be particularly helpful in understanding any deficiencies in care found at a nursing home. Every facility will have some mistakes, but you can compare the number and severity of those deficiencies documented in recent health inspection reports against those of other nursing homes. For instance, below is the single deficiency found at Heritage Health Dwight during their last health inspection.
2/15/2018 Failure to develop the complete care plan within 7 days of the comprehensive assessment; and prepared, reviewed, and revised by a team of health professionals. The facility failed to revise a care plan after a quarterly assessment of a resident. The resident receives anti-psychotic medicine, but their care plan documentation did not note this.
Protecting Nursing Home Residents from Abuse
You may not be able to supervise every moment of your loved one’s care in their nursing home, but you will rest easier if you know you’ve picked a highly rated facility with a proven record of excellent service. While abuse can occur at any facility, it’s more likely to happen at locations with a history of issues and poor ratings. It’s up to you to sort through the successful and questionable nursing homes in your community to identify the safest one for your family member.
You can do this by doing thorough research into local nursing homes. Begin by asking friends, doctors, or social workers for recommendations for good facilities. Look up each facility online where you can compare Medicare ratings, reviews, and news reports for them all. Most nursing homes today have their own websites where you can learn more about them, but they will always market themselves in a good light so take their claims with a grain of salt.
From your research, identify your top choices and schedule tours so you can see what they’re like for yourself. Note the cleanliness of the facility, friendliness of staff, and the general atmosphere. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about staff qualifications, how much time is spent with each resident, and how they address complaints and reports of abuse.
After all your research, pick the facility that seems to offer the safest environment for your loved one, then plan to stay in touch with them. Residents who are isolated from friends and family are the most likely to experience abuse, so make arrangements to visit or talk with your family member often. They may need you to help them recognize or report abuse if it happens.
You can best do this by being aware of the signs of abuse in case anything ever seems off with your relative. Here are some of the most common signs
- Untreated severe bedsores
- Unexplained injuries like bruises, burns, or scars
- Evidence of poor circulation like sunken cheeks or eyes
- Weight loss or malnourishment not due directly to an illness
- Frequent trips to the emergency room or doctor
- Wrong type or the wrong amount of medication administered
- Poor hygiene or unwashed clothes or hair
- Instances of wandering or elopement
- Frequently misplaced or lost personal items
- A lack of basic necessities, including utilities, water, and food
- A dirty room or bathroom
- Frequent trouble sleeping
- Unusual violent or withdrawn behavior
- Sudden depression or confusion
- Signs of trauma like rocking back and forth
If you become aware of any mistreatment of a nursing home resident, report it immediately. Document your experience to keep the details straight, and go directly to the facility administrators. They should be willing to listen to your concerns and take immediate action to investigate and prevent further incidents.
However, sometimes abuse occurs in a facility where management is ineffective, and those in charge may be unwilling or inept at productively addressing abuse. Unfortunately, this only further endangers vulnerable residents. If nursing home management fails to stop abusive behavior, it’s probably time to get the law involved.
Levin & Perconti Can Help
If your family member has suffered neglect or abuse at an Illinois nursing home, Levin & Perconti can help. We are recognized experts in handling nursing home abuse cases and have won millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients.
If you want more information about seeking legal action against a negligent nursing home, click or call Levin & Perconti at 888-424-5757 any time for a free consultation and the answers you need. We are here for you.
Disclaimer: The above health inspection findings are taken from public records kept and published by Medicare and the state of Illinois and are not complete. Levin & Perconti cannot confirm that this page’s content includes the latest information available. Any corrections or additions made to these public records after publication of this page will not be found here. For the most up-to-date information, visit www.il.gov or medicare.gov. This page is a legal advertisement and informational resource for visitors and is not endorsed by the named facility or any government agency. Levin & Perconti does not have any affiliation with the named facility.
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Not only were they so professional but also so caring and thoughtful. It was very difficult going over the facts in our mother's case but they were so compassionate and understanding and allowed us to be with them every step of the way. We were able to sit in on the depositions and we were really able to see how hard they worked on our behalf.
Contact Us
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Notable Results
VERDICT
on behalf of an 85-year-old woman injured in a nursing home when her medications were mismanaged.
VERDICT
for the estate of a 67-year-old man who died from complications related to a fall
SETTLEMENT
for a 59-year-old resident who developed multiple painful and infected bedsores which took four years to heal.
Heritage Health Facilities
- Heritage Health Beardstown
- Heritage Health Bloomington
- Heritage Health Carlinville
- Heritage Health Chillicothe
- Heritage Health Dwight
- Heritage Health El Paso
- Heritage Health Elgin
- Heritage Health Gibson City
- Heritage Health Gillespie
- Heritage Health Hoopeston
- Heritage Health Jacksonville
- Heritage Health Litchfield
- Heritage Health Mendota
- Heritage Health Minonk
- Heritage Health Mount Sterling
- Heritage Health Mount Zion
- Heritage Health Normal
- Heritage Health Pana
- Heritage Health Peru
- Heritage Health Robinson
- Heritage Health Springfield
- Heritage Health Staunton
- Heritage Health Streator
- Heritage Health Walnut
- Heritage Square
Our Office
325 N LaSalle Dr Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60654
312-332-2872