A resident of the Forest Hill Health and Rehab in East Moline, Illinois engaged in multiple acts of violent and aggressive behavior towards other residents of the nursing home. During those times, staff members of the home failed to act appropriately both during the events as well as after.
They failed to provide a safe environment for the residents of the home by not acting to remove residents from harm’s way during the initial events. Forest Hill Health and Rehab also failed to provide suitable controls to stop the violent behavior.
The attacker is a 56-year-old man. According to the care plan developed when he first became a resident of the nursing home, he had a known history of aggressive behaviors. In fact, one of the man’s children told investigators that after surgery for kidney stone removal the man “became increasingly confused and more physically aggressive. I say more because when we were children [the resident] used to beat all four of us kids, so this behavior is not new…”
The care plan contained no instructions for staff concerning appropriate responses to the violence, and no instructions for the prevention to harm for other residents.
The first violent episode involved the resident attacking one resident and then a second who attempted to intervene. Both victims received injuries that required medical care. Both victims were elderly men.
After the initial incident, the attacker was sent to a mental hospital, but then was readmitted to Forest Hill Health and Rehab. No new procedures or training was given to any of the staff regarding the attacker. One staff member admitted to being scared of the violent resident. He also acknowledged that the staff was incapable of managing the resident.
Shortly after being readmitted to the facility, he attacked another resident. Again, there were no new interventions or strategies intended to prevent further attacks.
More attacks quickly followed, including attacks on staff and other residents. The resident’s attending physician told nursing home investigators that “I was surprised they (Forest Hill Health and Rehab) agreed to take [the resident] here. They aren’t capable of controlling this.”
If you have a loved one who has been the victim of violence in an Illinois nursing home, contact our Chicago nursing home attorneys for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.
Other blog posts on resident-on-resident nursing home assaults:
Sexual assault on resident at Swansea Rehab