The Carlton at the Lake

The Carlton at the Lake has 244 certified nursing home beds. The facility is located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood and participates in both Medicare and Medicaid. The Carlton at the Lake ownership is a partnership that operates for-profit. The overall rating for the facility is much above average.

In terms of health inspections, the facility is considered above average. As is the practice, the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services conducts inspections of Illinois nursing homes approximately every 18 months. A survey of The Carlton at the Lake was done on March 31, 2016. Based on interviews and record review, the facility failed to accommodate a resident in isolation. The resident expressed a strong preference for an occasional shower. This applied to one of 6 residents reviewed for activities of daily living and accommodation of needs in a sample.

On March 29, 2016, a resident stated that he had not received any showers lately. The resident stated that “I have told them that I wanted one but have not received one.” The resident stated that “they clean me in the morning but I prefer a shower.” On March 29, 2016, a certified nursing assistant – CNA stated that the resident receives a bath in bed in the morning. The certified nurse assistant was asked regarding the resident’s request to receive showers. The CNA stated that the resident has not received showers since the resident was placed in isolation. The CNA also stated that the resident was not able to sit on a shower chair so a bed bath was provided.

The next day, the resident was interviewed again and said that he still had not received a shower this week. He said he preferred to have a shower. On March 30, 2015, a registered nurse stated that residents, including the resident complaining about showers, cannot receive showers while in isolation and that residents are given bed baths. The facility’s April 5, 2014 policy and procedure on resident bath-shower documents: “It is the policy of this facility to ensure that resident showers are provided by the nursing staff to promote cleanliness, provide comfort to the resident and observe the condition of the resident’s skin. Administer a resident shower once weekly and/or as often as necessary. If reasonably practicable, try to accommodate resident’s preference in the shower schedule.”

On March 31, 2016, a nurse consultant was interviewed who stated that if a resident is in isolation, they may still have showers as long as the isolation (infection or infection site) is contained.

According to interviews and inspection, it was found that one resident was interviewed was found not to have a care plan meeting with family. The staff that was interviewed confirmed that two residents were not present during a care plan meeting because they were both on isolation. The family of one resident was interviewed by telephone on March 29, 2016 stated that until this time, there was no care plan meeting that was conducted with the resident or family of the resident.

The Carlton at the Lake rates much above average in terms of staffing. The total number of licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day was found to be 2 hours and 10 minutes. This is above the Illinois and national averages. The registered nurse hours per resident per day was found to be 1 hour and 36 minutes compared to 57 minutes for Illinois and 51 minutes which is the national average. The licensed practical nurse hours per resident per day was 33 minutes whereas the Illinois average was 37 minutes and the national average 51 minutes. CNA hours per resident per day was 2 hours and 27 minutes which compared equally to the national average and better than the Illinois average. Physical therapy staff hours per resident per day were 8 minutes which was better than both the Illinois and national averages.

The Carlton at the Lake was rated average in quality measures. 65.1% of short-stay residents made improvements in function. This compared better than the Illinois and national averages. The Carlton at the Lake also performed better in the percentage of short-stay residents who were re-hospitalized after a nursing home admission. Just 14.8% of the facility’s residents were re-hospitalized which compared favorably to the Illinois and national averages.

The Carlton at the Lake performed very well with respect to the short-stay residents who have had an outpatient emergency visit. Just 1.8% of its residents fell into that category compared to 12.1% for Illinois and 11.5% for the U.S. The percentage of long-stay residents experiencing one or more falls with major injury at The Carlton at the Lake was just 2.3% of its residents. This scored better than the Illinois and national averages which were both 3.3% of residents. 15.9% of The Carlton at the Lake long-stay residents whose ability to move independently worsened was better than the Illinois average of 17.7% and 18.2% which was the national average. 91.2% of The Carlton at the Lake residents received the appropriate seasonal flu vaccine. This compared slightly worse than the Illinois and national averages. As to the percentage of long-stay residents who were assessed and given, appropriately, the pneumococcal vaccine, just 76.9% of The Carlton at the Lake residents received this vaccine. This compared poorly as to the Illinois average of 91.9% and 93.9% which was the national average.

The Carlton at the Lake has not received any federal fines in the last 3 years.

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