The Winning Wheels nursing home in Prophetstown, Illinois was recently cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health for failing to prevent bed sores on four residents. In addition, the bed sores were not quickly identified. As a result, they progressed into Stage II and Stage III bed sores.
Winning Wheels is guilty of nursing home neglect by failing to properly identify a bed sore (or pressure ulcer) on the foot of one resident before it reached Stage III. A Stage III bed sore is a deep open wound with a crater-like appearance.
Two other residents of Winning Wheels developed Stage II bed sores before there was any indication that Winning Wheels staff identified a problem area. A Stage II bed sore is an open wound that often take the appearance of punctured blisters.
As a bed sore lawyer, it comes as no surprise to me that these bed sores were able to develop into open wounds before being detected. Bed sores, also known as pressure ulcers, develop under circumstances that typical of nursing home neglect.
Bed sores develop when residents are unable to move or readjust themselves on their own, are often malnourished or dehydrated, and are left for long periods in wet or unsanitary conditions.
When these conditions are present, bed sores are quick to develop, and until these conditions are rectified, they are difficult or impossible to treat. That’s why bed sores are almost always signs of nursing home neglect.
If you have a loved one who has developed bed sores in an Illinois nursing home, contact our Chicago bed sore lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices, we offer a free and confidential case evaluation to anyone with an Illinois bed sore case.