The Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home on Lakewood Avenue in Chicago is one of the finest nursing homes in Chicago. For families with loved ones in nursing homes or for families who are having to face the difficult decision of placing a loved one in a nursing home, it’s well worth the time to examine what the best nursing homes in the area are doing that other nursing homes are not.
Obviously, it’s impossible to predict every instance of nursing home abuse or neglect before it happens. There are, however, some very compelling data that indicate characteristics that nursing homes without histories of abuse or neglect share.
The first indicator is ownership. By and large, nursing homes that are owned and operated by for-profit companies provide a lower standard of care than nursing homes that are operated by non-profit organizations. Naturally, the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in Chicago is a non-profit organization.
The second indicator is staffing levels. Before you place a loved one in a nursing home, be certain to talk to the staff. As an attorney who handles cases of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the staff of many different nursing homes. When a nursing home is properly staffed, the employees are happy, and there’s little turnover. Nurses, nurses aides, and other employees will be intimately acquainted with the people in their care, and be able to speak at length about their personalities.
The staffing levels at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Chicago are exemplary. Each resident averages over 3 and 1/2 hours of personal nurses aide time each day, as well as 2 hours of licensed nursing time.
That’s the kind of personal attention that leads to the third indicator: Health Deficiencies discovered by Medicare health inspectors. The average number of health deficiencies in Illinois nursing homes is 8 per year. The Little Sisters of the Poor in Chicago has only 5 over the past 3 years.
Unfortunately for all seniors, few nursing homes are run as well as the Little Sisters of the Poor. If you have a loved one in an Illinois nursing home, and you feel they may have been the victims of abuse or neglect, contact my law offices for a free evaluation of your case.