A resident of the Bement Health Care Center in Bement, Illinois was seriously injured after suffering a fall at the facility. This was the second nursing home fall for this resident, which resulted in a pubic rami fracture and an acetabular fracture. That translates to a broken pelvis and a broken hip.
Nursing home falls are always dangerous, but when a fall results in breaks to the essential bones that control walking, sitting, and moving, they can often lead to deadly infections.
It’s impossible to completely eliminate nursing home falls. However, compared to falls that occur in other locations, nursing home falls are exceedingly predictable. What makes this a case of nursing home neglect is the way that Bement Health Care Center staff failed to take action after the first fall took place.
Every time a nursing home resident experiences a nursing home fall, the nursing home is obligated to investigate the incident, determine the causes, and put interventions in place to prevent further falls. The reasoning behind the law is simple: a single nursing home fall is rarely an isolated incident. Often it’s a indication of things to come.
In the first case, the Bement Health Care Center resident was found on the floor next to her toilet. The section of the report that asks “”What fall prevention techniques were in use prior to the fall?” was blank. So was the section that asks for the cause of the fall. So was the section that asks what new interventions would be put in place to prevent future falls.
Even after the second nursing home fall, which resulted in the fractured pelvis and hip, the Bement Health Care Center nursing home failed to implement fall prevention strategies. It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to see that the continued nursing home neglect makes further nursing home falls almost inevitable.
If you have a loved one who has experienced multiple falls in Bement Health Care or in any Illinois nursing home, contact our Illinois nursing home neglect lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices we never charge a fee unless we take, and win, your case.
Other blog posts on nursing home falls:
Failure to use gait belt at Good Samaritan in Pontiac
Improper transfer at Boulevard Care in Chicago
Resident rolled out of bed by staff at Manorcare of Wilmette