State fines facility for patient's injuries

State fines facility for patient's injuries


March 26, 2003
By Joseph Sjostrom, Tribune staff reporter.A Burnham nursing home has been fined $10,000 by the state for a supervisory lapse that allegedly resulted in an elderly Alzheimer's disease patient breaking her leg in four places while trying to get out of bed, officials said Tuesday.

The fine was imposed on Burnham Healthcare, 14500 S. Manistee Ave., by the Illinois Department of Public Health, a spokesman for the department said. Burnham Healthcare has requested a hearing on the fine.
The manager of the nursing home declined to comment.

Burnham Healthcare paid a $5,000 fine in October 2001 for allowing an elderly resident to walk away from the facility. The resident was found the next day 19 miles away in the middle of a busy highway, but another two weeks went by before she was identified as the missing woman, according to a Public Health Department account.

The latest incident occurred around 1 p.m. on June 22 when a woman with Alzheimer's disease, kidney failure and osteoporosis was found by nursing home staff with both legs caught in the side rails of her bed, according to the Public Health Department's report. Staff members put her back in bed, but took her to a hospital 45 minutes later where an examination showed she had suffered four fractures to her lower legs, the report said.

The woman, whose name and age were not given, had fallen out of bed twice in the preceding two months, according to the report, which also says the nursing home's policy was for a confused patient to have a low bed instead of one with side rails.

An inspection of Burnham Healthcare in February showed the nursing home was applying that policy, said Tammy Leonard, a spokeswoman for the public health department.

Other department inspection records indicate that nine times since 2001 Burnham Healthcare was found to be in violation of federal or state standards for nursing home care on such issues as social services, proper supervision of patients, and prevention of hazards. All violations subsequently were corrected, Leonard said.

Department of Public Health records identify the owners of Burnham Healthcare as Nachshon Draiman, Philip Esformes, and Morris I. Esformes, all of whom are part owners of other nursing homes

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