When engaging the services of a nursing home, an individual should check how the home is structured and what kind of insurance it has.  If there should be a medical malpractice action, the individual wants to make sure the company has assets and insurance for a recovery.

Some nursing home owners set up multiple corporations, separating real estate or investments from operations, or creating limited liability corporations for each home in a chain.  Nursing homes do this to decrease what they have to pay when there is a lawsuit.

If a patient gets injured without first investigating a home’s finances, it is not too late to do so before filing a lawsuit.  Find out information that will show that multiple entities operated together, with no clear delineation between roles.  Find out all the potentially responsible parties to name in the Complaint.  When different entities are under common control, they may all be liable to a personal injury plaintiff.

Keep all brochures, admission packets, any documents that name the entities related to the nursing home.  Talk to former employees to find out what company name is on their paychecks.

Sometimes businesses use trade names with the public, but operate under other corporate names.  Look in the Secretary of State website to find out the real “corporate” name and officers of the business.  Get the license information, which may show who the nursing home owners are.

Besides the Secretary of State, other sources of public information on ownership and source of finances are prior lawsuits against the home.  Ask the lawyers who worked on the cases for any depositions of the corporate officers. Any discovery in prior lawsuits is public information so the attorneys should not have reasons to object to handing over the depositions.

Also, get Medicaid cost reports from www.cms.hhs.gov, and review Securities and Exchange Commission filings at www.sec.gov to find out about nursing home assets and income.  Cost reports lead a personal injury plaintiff to the people to depose during discovery.  Establish a hierarchy of management by getting a list of all titles and names of persons who hold each job.

Businesses exist to make money, but when a nursing home maximizes revenues by minimizing care, the nursing home should not get away from financial liability by corporate structure when different entities are really acting together in money, property, or conduct.

To get through a medical malpractice case with poise, engage an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney.