St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center

St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center has 110 certified beds. The facility is located between the Irving Park and the North Center neighborhoods of Chicago’s northwest side. The facility participates in Medicare and Medicaid. The ownership of St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center is a corporation that operates as a non-profit business. The overall rating for St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center is average.

The Illinois Department of Health and Human Services regularly conducts inspections of Illinois nursing homes approximately every 18 months. In August 2015, St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center was inspected by the department. Based on observation, interview and record review, the facility failed to assist residents to eat in a timely, dignified manner and failed to knock and await response prior to entering a resident’s room. These deficiencies have the potential to affect 2 of 14 residents reviewed for privacy and dignity.

On August 19, 2015, in the second floor dining room, a certified nursing assistant was seated next to a resident who had completely finished her meal. Another resident was also at this table, with her meal uncovered and untouched in front of her. The certified nursing assistant stated that she was unable to assist the other resident until she was finished assisting the other resident. The CNA began to assist the resident at approximately 20 minutes later. The CNA stated that this resident requires extensive assistance by at least one staff member to eat.

On August 19, 2015, a resident was seated at a table in the second floor dining room along with 3 table mates. All of these residents had been served their meals and were eating except for one. One resident who needed assistance remained at the table with her meal in front of her but was unable to eat it without help. The physician order of record showed that this resident has memory problems. The resident’s nutrition care plan includes the intervention to feed at meal times as needed.

On August 17, 2015, during the same inspection, a tour was conducted accompanied by a registered nurse. The RN entered a resident’s room without knocking and waiting to be invited to enter. The registered nurse was asked if the facility had a policy for knocking on resident’s doors and waiting to be invited in before entering. The nurse stated that “I should be knocking and asking if I should come in.” A review of the policy titled “Resident Privacy and Dignity Policy,” indicates in part, a resident has a right to privacy in their home. Staff must knock and ask for permission to enter a resident’s room.

Based on observation, interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure razors, chemicals and oxygen tanks were kept out of residents’ reach. The facility also failed to ensure a chair alarm was attached properly to a resident’s clothing. This has the potential to affect residents in the sample.

On August 18, 2015, the director of nursing at St. Paul’s House stated chemicals should be kept out of residents’ reach and oxygen tanks should be stored in the oxygen supply closet for resident safety. Nurses and CNAs are responsible to ensure chair alarms are attached to a resident’s clothing and are functional. Oxygen tanks brought in by hospice agencies should also be stored in the oxygen storage closet and be labeled with the resident’s name, along with a sign not to remove them, as they are the property of the hospice agency. The report found that the facility failed to contain oxygen supplies in a sanitary manner and to label normal saline and sterile water used with respiratory equipment with the date opened. It was also found that the facility failed to properly store and serve food under sanitary conditions.

With respect to staffing at St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center, there was no available data.

The overall quality measures rating for St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center is average. 47.3% of short-stay residents who made improvements in function was lower than the Illinois and national averages. 31.2% of St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center short-stay residents were re-hospitalized after a nursing home admission. That percentage is higher than the Illinois average of 22.9% and the national average of 21.1%. St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center short-stay residents had an outpatient emergency department visit at a rate of just 8%. That percentage of residents needing emergency hospital services is below the state and nation averages.

St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center percentage of long-stay residents experiencing one more falls with major injury was only .7%. This is considerably lower than the Illinois and national averages. The percentage of long-stay residents whose ability to move independently worsened was at 15% at St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center. The Illinois average is 17.7% and the national average is 18.2%. Just 12.2% of St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center long-stay residents required help with daily activities. That percentage was lower than the Illinois and national averages. St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center did very well in giving its long-stay residents the appropriate pneumococcal vaccine. It scored at 99.3% which was nearly perfect. This was above the Illinois state and national averages.

There have been no federal fines assessed against St. Paul’s House & Health Care Center for the last 3 years.

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