The Winchester House nursing home in Libertyville, Illinois failed to conduct proper background checks for fifteen residents admitted to the facility.
According to the receptionist at Winchester House, “Since the new company took over, we are behind in getting background checks and website checks done.”
Nursing homes and other group homes are required to conduct background checks on new residents within 24 hours of their admission. The fifteen residents admitted to Winchester house from the sixth of September until the twenty-third were not submitted for background checks until the twenty-sixth of the month.
To some, this may seem like a minor offense. If all of the residents are safe, it is. For the families of residents in Winchester House, I doubt that is a risk they’re happy to take.
Resident on resident violence is a very serious problem in Illinois and across the country. Last year, I wrote about several incidents of resident violence including a resident of the Oak Park Health Care nursing home in Oak Park, Illinois who was beaten to death by another resident.
Nursing home violence is not limited to residents. Late last year, a nurse put a resident of the Sacred Heart Home in a headlock and punched her repeatedly in the head.
In the most bizarre and disturbing case, staff of the Lincoln Residential Center in Brookhaven, Mississippi conspired to have one resident attack another resident.
Most families place a loved one in a nursing home for one reason: safety. Residents who are suffering from later stages of dementia often become a danger to themselves or others. Most houses are simply not easily made safe for family members suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
If you have a loved one in an Illinois nursing home, and you hear about any incident of nursing home violence, be sure to talk to as many nurses and staff members as possible about the incident. Document any injury that you see, and be persistent inquiring for explanations from nursing home administration.
Nursing homes have an obligation to protect all their residents. Any failure to do so constitutes nursing home neglect. If you believe that your loved one has been the victim of nursing home violence, contact our Chicago nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential case evaluation.
Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer Blog 
Pingback: Sexual Offender Found In Massachusetts Nursing Home | Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer Blog