A Bloomington long-term care facility is among those most recently fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health for violations of the state's Nursing Code Act.
Bloomington Rehabilitation and Health Care received $27,200 in fines in the fourth of quarter of last year — $25,000 for violations recorded in July and $2,200 for violations recorded in August.
The violations stem from a series of incidents at the South Main Street facility that include failures to treat patient wounds appropriately and at least one preventable fall.
According to IDPH documentation, a resident with a history of falling and other serious illnesses fell after being left alone in the bathroom. IDPH documentation indicated the resident's care plan said the resident needed assistance in the bathroom after a May fall that led to a subdural hematoma — or build-up of blood on the brain. An additional fall in the weeks after that care plan was established led to a new brain bleed in the resident, who later died in hospice.
Another violation documented in July indicated a care plan for a resident did not include safety during unsupervised outings or address the resident's substance use disorder. The resident, walking with a broken walker, fell on a busy local road and could not get up without assistance. The resident later went to the emergency room for pain in his foot, which turned out to be broken. The resident said he was staying at the facility for rehabilitation after an amputation due to frostbite he'd experienced while homeless.
Violations documented in August indicated two residents did not have their wound dress changes and skin checks performed as ordered by a doctor, leaving one resident to experience "multiple occasions of parasitic maggot infestations," IDPH said.
Federally, Bloomington Rehab has been fined for health and safety violations six times in the past three years, totaling around $227,000, according to Medicare.gov.
Bloomington Rehab is owned by Peoria-based Petersen Health Care. Many of Petersen's other assets were sold in bankruptcy proceedings last year.
