A resident at the Claridge Healthcare Center in Lake Bluff, Illinois fell three times in five months while a resident of the facility. Her first fall occurred when she was using her walker. The walker was found on top of her. A bump nearly two inches wide was found on her forehead.
There is no evidence that the facility conducted any kind of investigation into the cause of her fall. A few months later, she fell again. This time and X-Ray revealed that she fractured her hip and leg. Again, there was no indication that the facility conducted any kind of investigation into the causes of the fall or put any interventions in place that would prevent any further falls.
A month later she fell a third time. The woman’s roommate reported that she was trying to put herself in her wheelchair when she fell.
During the course of the nursing home investigation, the nursing home inspector for the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) found the resident in her room unable to reach for her nurse call light. The resident is a Korean-American and speaks no English, making it very hard to make her wishes known.
Nursing home falls are extremely dangerous because they often lead to more falls and greater and more serious levels of injuries. That seems to be the situation that played out at Claridge Healthcare Center. The first fall occurred when the resident was using her walker. The last fall occurred while she was in a wheelchair.
Sadly, when steps are not taken to analyze the reason behind nursing home falls, additional falls happen far too often.
If you have a loved one who has been seriously injured in a nursing home fall, contact our Chicago nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle we never charge a fee unless we earn a recovery for you.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls:
Resident wanders from Claridge Healthcare Center
Failure to follow orders at Alden Waterford results in fall
Unattended resident falls from wheelchair at Lexington Healthcare in Bloomingdale