Suing an Illinois Rehab Facility for Preventable Falls and Fractures

Overview

Your parent just underwent a successful knee replacement or hip surgery. To ensure a safe recovery, their doctor discharged them to a short-term rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility for physical therapy. You thought they would be safe and closely monitored. Instead, you received a devastating phone call that they were dropped by staff or found on the floor with a fractured hip or a severe traumatic brain bleed.

If your loved one suffered a catastrophic fall while under the care of an Illinois rehab facility, it is critical that you understand your rights—and you may have a strong legal claim for medical negligence - please contact us ASAP..

Facilities often rush to tell families that the fall was a "freak accident" or simply an unavoidable part of aging. Do not let them sweep the incident under the rug. Under Illinois law, rehab facilities are legally required to conduct comprehensive fall risk assessments and implement individualized care plans to protect vulnerable patients. When they fail to do so, they can—and should—be held fully accountable for the resulting physical and financial damages.

DID YOUR LOVED ONE SUFFER A SEVERE FALL IN REHAB? If your family member suffered a broken hip, spinal fracture, brain bleed, or wrongful death due to a fall inside an Illinois care facility, we want to hear from you. Click here to talk with an attorney today.

Unavoidable Falls vs. Staff Negligence

Not every fall in a healthcare facility is grounds for a lawsuit. The law recognizes that some accidents are genuinely unavoidable. However, a fall crosses the line into actionable negligence when it is foreseeable and the facility failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.

Under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45), which governs licensed skilled nursing and subacute rehab facilities, the administration has a strict duty to assess every new patient's fall risk upon admission. This means evaluating their surgical history, mobility limitations, cognitive state (such as post-operative delirium or dementia), and medications that cause dizziness.

If the assessment flags the patient as a high fall risk, the facility must implement an individualized care plan—which might require bed alarms, floor mats, lowered beds, or strict "two-person assist" transfer rules. If the staff ignores this care plan or the facility fails to create one entirely, the resulting fall is not an accident; it is negligence.

Failure to Use Gait Belts and Hoyer Lifts

A massive percentage of catastrophic rehab injuries do not occur when the patient is walking independently; they happen during assisted transfers—such as moving a patient from a bed to a wheelchair or to the toilet.

The standard of care requires staff to use specific assistive devices for heavy or heavily medicated patients. A gait belt is a basic strap placed around the patient's waist that allows a nurse to safely guide their center of gravity. A Hoyer lift is a mechanical hoist used for patients who cannot bear any weight.

Far too often, rushed or improperly trained staff members attempt to manually lift a patient by grabbing their arms or under their armpits. When the patient's legs give out, the staff member inevitably drops them, resulting in a shattered pelvis or femur. Failing to use the mechanical lifts and gait belts mandated by the patient's care plan is a clear breach of duty.

Ignoring Call Lights Due to Understaffing

One of the most frequent fact patterns in a rehab facility fall case is the "unanswered call light." A patient who is a known fall risk needs to use the restroom. They press their call button and wait. Ten minutes pass, then twenty, then thirty. Out of desperation or confusion, the heavily medicated patient attempts to get out of bed on their own, loses their balance, and falls.

Corporate defense attorneys will try to blame the patient for not waiting. However, the root cause of the fall is the facility's chronic understaffing. Corporate owners frequently staff their floors with dangerously low numbers of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) to maximize profit margins. When there are not enough staff members to answer call lights in a timely manner, patients are forced into unsafe situations. Illinois courts and juries routinely hold facilities liable for falls triggered by systemic understaffing.

The Difference Between Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing Regulations

It is vital to understand what type of facility your loved one was in, as the legal standards differ significantly.

Skilled Nursing/Subacute Rehab Facilities: These are highly regulated medical environments governed by the strict Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. They provide 24/7 skilled nursing care and physical therapy. They are legally required to provide maximum assistance and have strict liability for employee negligence under the Act.
Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs): ALFs are governed by the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act. They provide a much lower level of care, focusing on independent living with minor assistance for activities of daily living. If an ALF accepts a patient who requires a mechanical Hoyer lift or strict two-person transfer assists, they may be liable for "retaining a resident beyond their capacity to provide safe care."

Proving Proximate Cause After a Fall

To win your lawsuit, it is not enough to prove the facility was understaffed or dropped the patient. Your legal team must prove causation—that the specific fall directly caused the severe injury or subsequent wrongful death.

This is where the facility's insurance company will fight the hardest. If your parent suffered a brain bleed, the defense might argue it was a spontaneous stroke that caused the fall, rather than the fall causing the bleed. If the patient dies of pneumonia weeks after a hip fracture, the defense will claim the death was unrelated.

Our firm combats this by retaining top-tier medical experts—such as orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and geriatricians. These experts testify that the trauma of the fall directly caused the surgical fracture, which then triggered the patient's rapid, fatal decline.

Speak to a Chicago Rehab Facility Negligence Lawyer

A severe fall in a rehabilitation center can permanently destroy your loved one's independence and subject your family to hundreds of thousands of dollars in extended medical care. You do not have to accept the facility's excuses.

Click here to talk with an attorney today to share your experience with our legal team and find out how we can help your family secure justice and financial compensation.