One senior who suffered a broken wrist after a preventable fall, another with an open bed sore and three others who experienced a significant weight drop are state findings that could result in the loss of public aid for Alden Town Manor Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Cicero.

The facility already had been found in non-compliance with laws governing Medicare and Medicaid services in an inspection Dec. 27, and it was given the standard six months to comply. The deadline is Friday, June 27.

Kimberly Parker, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said surveyers from the state were at the Alden center Monday to follow up on previously cited deficiencies.

“The health and safety of residents is our priority,” Parker said. “For the facilities that have received violations based on the severity of harm, our goal is to get them back in compliance.”

Alden officials said in a written statement that the facility still is licensed to provide care and services to its residents.

“As always, Alden Town Manor remains committed to providing a safe, secure environment for our residents,” the statement read.

Robert P. Daly, manager of the Chicago regional office of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said termination of aid doesn’t necessarily mean closure of the facility.

But if the facility is no longer eligible for Medicare or Medicaid payments, “it could have the practical effect” of shutting down a facility because usually 90 percent of money for nursing home residents come from Medicaid, he said.

“Very few facilities exist on private funds only,” he said.

On Dec. 27, the state conducted an inspection based on complaints and found two people with bed sores.

“Their skin was already breaking down, and it was getting worse,” Daly said.
Also, the state found the Alden center did not have adequate programs in place to make sure the social needs of clients were being met.

A team of surveyors came in May 2 to do a “top-to-bottom inspection” of all Medicare and Medicaid requirements and spent several days at the Alden facility, Daly said.

The state noted an incident in which a resident fell on the floor, hit her head and broke her wrist. Daly said the staff was aware that she would try to get up from her wheelchair, move around on her own and confusedly wander around the hallways, but they didn’t modify her care plan to account for these things, he said.

“When a person has a history of something like that, it’s the facility’s responsibility to include that in their care plan … they want to minimize the chance that the person would fall,” Daly said.

Another individual was found lying down on a red pressure sore with no protective covering over it, and the sore was healing but had reopened.

Also, three individuals’ medical records showed unplanned, significant weight loss in a three- to six-month period, Daly said.

“Facilities have to weigh residents regularly, and so they saw their weight loss and didn’t do anything to address it,” he said. “If people aren’t eating, the facility has to do something to make food more appetizing.”

If the Alden facility is cut from the Medicare and Medicaid program, it would take several months and further inspections to re-enter.

Daly said termination of public aid is rare. So far this year, the Chicago office, which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, has cut off aid to one facility in Michigan and another in Ohio out of the 3,477 centers it serves.