SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Manorcare at Libertyville $10,000 (Statement of Violation) for failure to provide nursing services in accordance with a resident's needs. The 150-bed skilled and sheltered care facility is located at 1500 S. Milwaukee Ave. in Libertyville.

Responding to a complaint, Department investigators found nursing staff failed to suction a resident's tracheotomy tube and to monitor his condition resulting in the resident's emergency hospitalization.

The resident, who had a history of pneumonia, was admitted to the facility after surgery for a tracheotomy tube to manage episodes of pneumonia. His individual care plan called for continual monitoring; suctioning, as necessary; and assisting with daily living activities.

Nine days after the resident was admitted to the facility, visiting family members noticed he was having difficulty breathing. The family contacted staff and they determined he was in respiratory distress. They began to suction his tube and called for an ambulance.

Paramedics removed nearly an entire canister – 800 cubic centimeters – of mucous from his tracheotomy tube. Based on the paramedics' report, the resident's physician told surveyors the "resident was drowning in fluid" that could not have accumulated in a short period of time.

A staff member told Department investigators the resident had used his call light several times during her shift, but the work load was heavy and she did not have time to suction his tube. After his hospitalization, the resident confirmed he tried to call nurses to his room several times the day of the incident to be suctioned or to be moved but "they just let me lay there."

A Department-ordered plan of correction required facility administration to review its policies and procedures for assessing resident conditions and for meeting their respiratory care needs.

Manorcare at Libertyville has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.