Aperion Care West Chicago: Cold Water Violations - IL
A complaint inspection at Aperion Care West Chicago, conducted December 16 through 19, 2025, found that residents had been bathing in cold or barely warm water for roughly a month, that staff knew about it, and that almost nothing was done in time to fix it.
One resident, identified in the inspection report as R5, said she used to shower every other day. She had been avoiding it for about a month because the water was cold. R10 said he had been forced to shower in freezing water and did not want to take another one. R9 told inspectors that residents were skipping showers altogether on the days there was no hot water, waiting for the one day it might come back.
The maintenance log tells the story in real time. On December 2, someone wrote: "Everyone: When will we be able to take a hot shower??????" The response, logged under "Fixed," read: "There is hot water 12/8." On December 4, another entry: "Everyone: No hot water." On December 8, a resident identified as R12 wrote that the shower water in the first-floor women's shower room kept switching from barely warm to cool. On December 10, R6 wrote in all capitals: "NO HOT WATER IN SHOWER." The response noted that the first stall was hot. That same day, another entry reported no hot water in a resident room. On December 12 at 4:30 a.m., someone wrote again: "NO HOT WATER WOMEN SHOWER." And then, two days later, the 2 a.m. entry threatening to call the state.
The facility's own Resident Council meeting minutes from December 5 noted that water temperatures in both the men's and women's shower rooms appeared not to be hot enough, or were taking a long time to warm up.
The maintenance supervisor, identified as V4, told inspectors he checked water temperature twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. He said he was not sure when the water became cold but found out about the problem on a Thursday. When he tested it, it read around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The facility's own bathing policy, revised in 2018, calls for water between 100 and 110 degrees.
The administrator, identified as V3, said he found out about a mixing valve problem on December 15, the day before inspectors arrived. He said he had learned there was an issue "altogether" from the maintenance worker on the Friday before that. He acknowledged the water had been inconsistent, that temperatures kept changing, and that he had not acted on it.
"I did not do anything about it," V3 told inspectors, "because with a facility of this size, you had to wait and see how the mixing valve was working."
He said he should have tested the water more frequently instead of just on Mondays and Fridays.
A certified nursing assistant, V9, told inspectors that residents had been complaining about the water temperature for at least a week. She said the water started out lukewarm and then went cold, and that maintenance had only been addressing it for the last two days before inspectors arrived.
A registered nurse, V11, said he started hearing complaints the previous Monday. Residents told him there was no hot water. Many of them had written it in maintenance requests. He said he had called maintenance several times.
The temperature logs V4 provided to inspectors showed water had been tested on four dates: one date was listed only as a placeholder, then December 5, December 8, and December 12. That is four checks across a period when residents were logging complaints in the middle of the night and skipping showers for weeks.
R5 had been avoiding the shower for about a month. R10 said he did not want to take another one.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Aperion Care West Chicago from 2025-12-19 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: September 19, 2026 · Our methodology
APERION CARE WEST CHICAGO in WEST CHICAGO, IL was cited for violations during a health inspection on December 19, 2025.
One resident, identified in the inspection report as R5, said she used to shower every other day.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.