Elder Law

Alden Village North Cited In Another Child Death

By Levin & Perconti

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday on yet another death of a disabled young child that led to a citation for a troubled Chicago nursing home.

Alden Village North has made many headlines in the last few months for negligent care leading to the deaths of several of its young residents. 14 children have died at the facility under questionable circumstances at the facility over the last 10 years.

This latest news will raise that number even higher. According to reports the facility staff was aware that test results showed a serious infection in a 14-month old resident. However, the staff failed to act quickly, instead allowing the girl to languish at the home for two days without care. When the girl?s doctor was finally called she was rushed to the hospital. Within hours she had died.

Many of the facilities? problems stem from its drive for profits, leading to staffing shortages and loose internal regulations. For example, two 4-year olds died in a three week period after suffering breathing problems. Alden Village staff members were supposed to have heard the nursing alert sounds that were activated throughout the facility to warn of the breathing problem, but they didn?t hear anything. Some of the alarms were incorrectly installed; other had the volume turned down so low that they were virtually worthless.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on January 11, 2011 (boomark / email).