Symphony at Midway

• Facility name: Symphony at Midway
• Facility address: 4437 South Cicero, Chicago, IL, 60632
• Facility phone: (773) 884-0484

Symphony at Midway is a large, 249 bed nursing home facility in Chicago, IL. Symphony at Midway offers post-acute care and rehabilitation, along with long term residential care. Their website advertises that their “guests” will feel like they are in a fine hotel, with an emphasis on tranquility, serenity, and comfort. They are “one of the country’s most innovative leaders in post-acute care and management services… working to provide the best possible outcomes for our guests.”

Symphony at Midway has had 24 complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years. Understaffing appears to be a chronic problem, with residents receiving just 15 minutes of RN care, and less than an hour total a day of licensed nurse time (the national average is 1 hour and 34 minutes.)

03/31/2017 Failure to 1) Hire only people with no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents; or 2) report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents. The family member of a resident reported that they found their mother with her entire arm strapped under her, with her hand strapped in to her incontinence brief. They stated that the filed paperwork and told the LPN of the concerns that it looked like someone did this intentionally, and never received any feedback. The family member asked several times, and was told they were working on it. Staff did not file an incident report, and only when alerted by the surveyor did they follow up.

03/31/2017 Failure to store, cook, and serve food in a safe and clean way Kitchen staff was observed washing dishes without properly disinfecting them. Upon interview, it appeared that the staff was never trained on proper sanitization protocol.

04/26/2018 Failure to ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. A resident was observed in their bed with no shoes or non-skid socks. This resident had a bruise on her cheek. She stated she fell twice but didn’t remember specifics on dates. Her family was visiting and stated they didn’t feel their loved one was being watched close enough, so they requested a room change to a room closer to the nurses station. No fall prevention measures were noted nor were any in place.

One resident was observed to be smoking a cigarette on the patio without supervision. This resident is listed as alert but with cognitive deficits, making him an unsafe smoker who needs supervision.

04/26/2018 Failure to provide and implement an infection prevention and control program. Multiple failures in infection control measures were observed; from multiple hand sanitizer stations either empty or not functioning, poor care of laundry, to a completely clueless infection control nurse (stated she did not know basic infection control details such as identifying antibiotic overuse, or how to determine if an outbreak is occurring (such as the flu), was not aware of guidelines and regulations in regards to infection control.)