Nursing Home Abuse at Alden Lincoln Park Rehab and Health Care Center

504 West Wellington Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 281-6200

Alden Lincoln Park Rehab and Health Care Center is a rehabilitation facility with 96 beds. It specializes in short-term rehabilitation, transitional care, and post-acute services in luxurious accommodations.

Medicare awarded Alden Lincoln Park Rehab and Health Care Center an overall rating of Below Average in 2024. This rating includes an Average health inspections rating, a Much Below Average staffing rating, and an Average quality measures rating.

The health inspection rating is the most important to look at when picking a nursing home. Here are some of the infractions noted on the most recent health inspection reports:

7/25/24 Failure to ensure that a resident’s call light was accessible and within reach to call for staff assistance. A resident was observed in his room. His call light was observed wrapped around his dresser drawer behind the resident, not within the resident’s reach. When asked where his call light was, the resident replied he did not know, and that he just yells for staff when he needs help from anyone. This resident had a history of falling, needed assistance with personal care, and a number of other diagnoses.

7/25/24 Failure to ensure equipment used after bladder irrigation was discarded after use in an effort to prevent cross contamination and follow infection protocols. An Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) sign was posted outside a resident’s room, where a piston syringe and a saline solution bottle were found. Both the piston syringe and the saline solution bottle were past their recommended usage dates at the time of finding. The Equipment Change schedule documented a policy that states, “Equipment will be changed following established schedules to prevent cross contamination.” The Director of Nursing stated that the piston syringe used for irrigation should be discarded after each use to prevent the introduction of bacteria and reduce the risk of infection for the resident.

7/25/24 Failure to ensure the nebulizer equipment was changed weekly on 1 resident; failure to label with date the nasal canula on 3 residents; and failure to label with date the humidifier bottle for 1 resident. It was noted that a resident’s nebulizer tubing had not been changed according to the facility’s policy of replacing nebulizer equipment weekly. Another 3 residents were observed with unlabeled oxygen tubing, which was not in compliance with labeling standards. The facility’s policy requires that they are changed monthly and labeled.

7/25/24 Failure to label opened multi dose vials. The first-floor medication refrigerator had an open house stock vial of Tuberculin Purified Protein Derivative with no label of when it was opened. When inquired about the missing label, a staff member was noted to be under the impression that the facility went by the expiration date on the medication. On another noted date, a resident’s Travoprost eye drops were opened with no label marking when they were opened. A staff member expressed their understanding of the importance of labeling when medications are opened, as the expiration dates change once the medications have been opened.

7/25/24 Failure to perform hand hygiene in between assisting one resident during dining services and failure to don Personal Protective Equipment when performing care on one resident on Enhanced Barrier Precautions isolation to prevent the spread of infectious microorganisms. A staff member was observed wiping spilled liquids with towels, then grabbing two sandwiches while still holding the wet towels from the spill. A staff member was observed entering an Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) sign without wearing a gown as instructed via the EBP sign. The resident whose room had an EBP sign had a diagnosis which included non-pressure chronic ulcer of other part of left lower leg, quadriplegia, radiculopathy cervical region, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.