Chicago Personal Injury Law Blog

The union which represents workers at a Galesburg nursing home have contacted the Illinois Department of Public Health to ask that four Illinois nursing homes be put into receivership. The reason for the request is that they are under the common management of Gem Healthcare and all have a poor track record for patient care.

The four nursing homes are: Galesburg Terrace in Galesburg; Regal Health & Rehab Center in Oak Law; Camelot Terrace in Streator; and Forest Hill Health & Rehab in East Moline.

The union claims that high employee turnover rates have contributed to substandard nursing home care. While not aware of the particular statistics of any of the facilities, I agree with the concept: when nursing home employees are long-time employees, they become familiar with the care needs of the residents and their general state of well-being and can more easily recognize when the condition of the resident has taken a turn for the worse. In facilities with high turnover rates, that kind of "institutional memory" does not exist or is lost when employees leave.

I have has the chance to represent the family of a resident of a Gem Healthcare facility, and was thoroughly unimpressed with the care provided. I also discovered that they had no liability insurance.

Labels: Nursing home abuse and neglect