Grove of Berwyn Violations & Ratings
Grove of Berwyn, located in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, rebranded to Zahav of Berwyn earlier this year, but its history of poor patient treatment remains. This nursing home currently has a consumer alert for abuse and has been the subject of intense scrutiny due to serious allegations of mistreatment.
Residents in nursing homes have the right to live with dignity and be treated with respect. Family members who suspect abuse should report their concerns as soon as possible to protect their loved ones. Contact our Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys today to speak to an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer.
Quick Overview
- Current Facility Name: Zahav of Berwyn
- Previous Facility Name: Grove of Berwyn
- Address: 3601 South Harlem Ave, Berwyn, IL 60402
- CMS Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
- CMS Health Inspection Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
- CMS Staffing Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
- CMS Quality Measures Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
- Federal Fines in Last 3 Years: 9 fines totaling $261,828
- Payment Denials by Medicare in the Last 3 Years: 1 denial
- Consumer Alert: Yes, flagged for abuse
- Total Bed Capacity: 145 beds
- Ownership Type: For-Profit Individual [1]
Facility Overview
Zahav of Berwyn, previously known as Grove of Berwyn, is a large for-profit nursing home that provides short-term and long-term skilled nursing for residents whose needs cannot be met at home. This includes post-hospitalization rehabilitation, dementia care, hospice, and wound care. It is not associated with a hospital or retirement community.
This nursing home has been accused of failing to provide adequate supervision to residents and exposing them to accident hazards. It is currently being investigated for abuse and has a consumer alert.
CMS Ratings and Performance
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a helpful rating system that assists families seeking nursing homes evaluate their options. The system includes all nursing homes and rehab facilities that accept government benefits.
The five-star system includes an overall grade and three subsections based on essential metrics: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures, such as the number of residents who experience complications during their stay at the nursing home.
This nursing home has a 1-star overall rating and a consumer alert for abuse. Its health inspection is 2 out of 5 stars, below average. It has a higher-than-average number of citations, including infection-related citations. [1]
Staffing measures received 1 out of 5 stars. This is due to very high staff turnover and low staff hours per resident, which can lead to individuals developing efficiently preventable conditions like skin infections. [1]
For quality measures, the nursing home received 2 out of 5 stars. A high number of patients were rehospitalized after their stay, and most short-term patients were not able to complete their activities of daily living after discharge. Additionally, many long-term patients develop new ulcers, which can point to a lack of nursing care. [1]
Services Provided
This Illinois nursing home provides 24-hour skilled nursing care to short-term and long-term residents, including those with complicated needs. Staff are meant to assist patients with daily living requirements, like bathroom breaks, grooming, hygiene, and nutrition.
It offers housekeeping, laundry, recreational activities, and meal preparation.
Medical care available includes:
- Dementia and memory care
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech therapy
- Orthopedic rehab
- Wound care
- Ventilator and respiratory care
- Hemodialysis
However, consumers and government agencies have accused this nursing home of failing to protect residents or ensure their well-being. While some reviewers say the nurses and staff are friendly, others complain that the facility isn’t interested in caring for residents and that the nursing home is dirty.
The CMS has cited the facility numerous times for failing to prevent accidents or report abuse promptly.
Violations and Citations
Nursing homes are supposed to provide appropriate, timely care to all residents per professional standards. Violations and inspection reports can provide insights into where the nursing home is failing to achieve excellence and what risks residents may face while there.
Specific Violations
Violations that have been cited at this nursing home include the following.
Failure to Provide Appropriate Pressure Ulcer Care: Residents did not receive appropriate pressure ulcer care, including changing their dressings regularly to avoid infection.
Abuse: Multiple residents have attacked one another within the nursing home, and staff did not do enough to intervene until after an incident happened. In one instance, this included the sexual assault of at least one resident by another resident.
Lack of Pain Management: The nursing staff failed to provide necessary pain medications to every resident, including those who had suffered a fall and fractured limbs.
Medication Errors: Nursing homes must ensure that no patient receives the wrong medication or misses a dose. This nursing home has been cited multiple times for significant medication errors, such as failing to provide needed medications regularly or not locking up medications in secure storage.
Accident Hazards: After a power outage, the nursing home area had extension cords snaking through the hallways, which could have caused a fall in a patient with mobility challenges.
Nutritional Deficiencies: The nursing home did not offer residents meal options or inform them what would be served that day. Residents who needed to eat alternative options, such as low-sugar meals, were not always accommodated.
Verbal Harassment: One Certified Nurse Aide told a resident that she was “needy” and that helping her put away her personal belongings was not part of her job description. [1]
Impact on Residents
Abuse, neglect, and disrespect in a nursing home can have dramatic consequences for residents, including physical harm and emotional damage.
Health and Safety Concerns
Foremost is the failure of the nursing home to protect residents from one another. Multiple reports document physical attacks between residents, some of which caused significant health issues like broken bones.
Lack of pain treatment can impact a person’s ability to participate in daily life, and it can also cause them to develop additional complications.
This nursing home also did not provide proper pressure ulcer care, putting patients at risk of developing new ulcers or infections that could be fatal.
Additionally, the nursing home did not take adequate measures to prevent infectious disease outbreaks. This means residents could become ill, and it also puts the whole community at risk, as family members who come to visit may also develop infections.
Emotional and Psychological Impact
Facilities are required to immediately report abuse, neglect, theft of money or personal belongings, and other severe infractions to the proper authorities, but this nursing home failed to do so on multiple occasions.
Not only does this put individuals at risk of assault or attack, but it also makes them feel as if their concerns are not being taken seriously and that their suffering does not matter.
At least one nurse aide verbally abused an individual seeking help, telling her that she was needy. This poor treatment can make individuals feel as if they are a burden, even though they are paying to receive care in a nursing home.
Case Examples
An April 2024 report uncovered widespread resident-on-resident abuse. This included one resident stabbing another with a butter knife, another resident entering a resident’s room and throwing a walker at him, and one individual slapping another in the face. While staff did intervene, they failed to provide adequate supervision that could have prevented suffering.
Earlier, in May 2023, one resident assaulted another, causing a fall that fractured her femur. The attacker had a history of criminal behavior, but the nursing staff failed to communicate the details and potential risks to every person working with the resident.
This danger to residents extends back to at least June 2022. One resident slapped another in the face, but the nursing staff changed the report to claim it was not abuse because the attacker was confused and denied the event.
In February 2023, the nursing home was cited after a resident was found with a four-day-old wound dressing. The resident also complained that he was denied access to his necessary medications, including insulation and pain relief.
A June 2022 report found that the nursing home area had electrical cables in the path of residents, which could have caused falls. Every nursing home facility must keep pathways free of any trip hazards to prevent accidents, even if there are extenuating circumstances like a power outage.
In that same report, residents complained that they were unaware of what they would eat at a particular meal until the plate was in front of them.
Legal Rights and Actions
Everyone has the right to live in a safe environment, free from abuse and neglect. The Illinois Department of Public Health outlines the protections for residents in nursing home care, including the ability to participate in developing a care plan and to live free from chemical or physical restraints unless necessary.
Those who have had their rights violated in a nursing home have the right to speak to their local long-term care ombudsman about their concerns or to report facilities to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for further investigation. They are also entitled to file a lawsuit or pursue legal action against a nursing home that neglected a loved one.
If you suspect abuse in a nursing home, it’s essential to work with a qualified nursing home abuse lawyer, as these cases can be complicated. We can thoroughly investigate nursing homes, gather evidence, report to the proper authorities, and negotiate with their insurance company to receive a settlement.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation with an Illinois nursing home abuse attorney.
[1] Medicare