Family Alleges Nursing Home Horrors

CHICAGO (CN) - A Chicagoland nursing home allowed a quadriplegic man to develop a 4-inch-by-4-inch open bed sore, and once failed to change his catheter for four weeks, lapses that led to his early death, his family claims in court.

Nicholas Simotes, a quadriplegic with limited mental functioning, was admitted to Walnut Grove Village, a residential nursing facility in Morris, Ill., in December 2012.

He also suffered from bladder and kidney disease, his family says.

In a complaint filed against Walnut Grove operators Morris SNF Management and Morris Sterling Holdings in Will County Circuit Court, Simotes's children, Doris and Larry Simotes, say that within weeks of their father's admission, he had wounds on his scrotum.

In the year that followed, they continue, their father developed sores on his testicles and buttocks, and a "a black/gray and foul smelling hemorrhoid" while in Walnut Grove's care.

In early 2014, Simotes was admitted to the hospital twice, the complaint says.

He was diagnosed with a bacterial infection around his anus, and necrotic bed sores at the end of his spine and heels, his children say.

At the time, they claim, the bed sore on his lower spine measured roughly 2 1/2-inches-by-2-inches.

In March 2014, Simotes was again taken to the hospital, where staff found that his catheter had not been changed in over four weeks.

Weeks later, another trip to the hospital found a Stage III-IV sacral decubitus ulcer on his backside where his spine meets his buttocks. A stage IV ulcer is a visible hole in the skin down to the bone. It measured 4-inches-by-4-inches, with an undetermined depth.

Simotes died in June 2014.

"At all times relevant hereto, Nicholas Simotes suffered from a severe brain injury and mental incapacity and was unable to understand or make decisions, manage his personal or financial affairs and was completely unable to make informed decisions up until the date of his death," the complaint states.

Walnut Grove's negligent care failed to monitor Simotes for bedsores, or to properly catheterize him, contributed to his death, the family claims.

Doris and Larry Simotes seeks unspecified damages on their wrongful death claims.

They are represented by Michael Sullivan with Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz in Chicago.

The nursing home did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Courthouse News.

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