SEPTEMBER 27, 2000

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has given notice that it intends to revoke the license of Westabbe Healthcare Center for substantial failure to provide quality care (Statement of "A" Violation(s)) (Statement of Repeat "B" Violation(s)) and has fined the facility $27,600. The 175-bed intermediate and skilled care facility is located at 2301 W. Monroe St. in Springfield.

The owners of Westabbe Healthcare Center have requested a hearing to contest the Department's action. As a result, the Department's move to revoke the facility's license will be delayed until a hearing has been held. A hearing date has not been scheduled.

The Department's action is the result of a series of problems at Westabbe that began in 1999 when the facility was disciplined for not providing the appropriate care for residents being tube fed or with bed sores. Responding this spring to a series of complaints, Department surveyors discovered that Westabbe had not followed plans of correction ordered in April 1999 to address issues of resident care.

The amount of tube-fed formula received by at least six residents was not monitored correctly, causing several to experience significant weight loss and other physical problems.

One tube-fed resident suffered seizures and was sent to the hospital where nurses noted the resident was filthy and had a terrible odor. It took three days and several baths to eliminate the odor and to remove a dry oily film on his skin. Hospital staff said it "looked like someone put him in a hole and left him there." In addition to being dirty, the resident was severely dehydrated, had multiple bed sores and had lost nearly 30 pounds in three months. A hospital doctor noted there were no medical causes to explain the man's condition other than neglect.

The facility also did not comply with the portion of the April 1999 plan of correction that required steps to prevent pressure sores and outlined procedures for the proper care and treatment of existing pressure sores. Through staff interviews and review of records, Department surveyors found at least 12 residents with pressure sores, several of which facility staff were unaware of and more than one-third of which were acquired in the facility.

In July, when the most recent complaints were investigated, Department surveyors found the facility failed to keep a resident's environment free of accident hazards, to provide adequate care and to throughly investigate injuries sustained by residents.

A resident was admitted to a hospital after Westabbe staff found her with several toenails missing. The staff said the resident, whose bed had been pushed against a wall because it lacked a bed rail, caught her foot in a heater grate in the wall, thereby causing the injury. Hospital staff, however, diagnosed the injury as severe burns and dry gangrene and four of the woman's toes had to be amputated.

In another incident, Department investigators determined the facility failed to investigate an incident in which a 70-year-old resident was found on the floor next to her bed with a small laceration to her lower lip. Nearly a week later, another staff member noted bruises on the resident's right arm and her chest. The resident's family and physician were notified and an X-ray was done, but staff did not conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.