Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

The Illinois Attorney General's Office conducted a sweep at a Jacksonville nursing home on Monday, looking for violations of state laws and regulations, the State Journal-Register reported.

As our Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys reported earlier this month on our Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog, three arrests were made at a similar raid in Chicago last month.

Fourteen police and state officials participated in the Jacksonville raid, which was the 11th conducted in recent weeks -- and the first to occur outside the Chicago area. However, unlike previous sweeps, authorities didn't check for outstanding warrants among the facility's residents. The state continues to struggle with dangerous felons in Chicago nursing homes.

A staff member of the Attorney General's Office declined to say why residents weren't checked for arrest warrants, nor would she comment about why the 113-bed Golden Moments Senior Care Center was chosen for the raid.

No one was arrested and not citations were issued during the three-hour inspection. However, risk-assessments, mandated by law, were not completed for several residents. One of the home's owners cited a backlog at the state level as the reason for the lack of assessments in place on three residents.

The home was fined $50,000 earlier this year for poor care in connection with the October death of a 74-year-old resident who choked on his food. The nursing home is contesting the amount of the fine.

Illinois Nursing Home Resources

If you are faced with the tough decision of admitting a loved one into a nursing home or elder care facility, the Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers at Abels & Annes want you to know there are resources available to help you with your decision.

Click here for advice on finding an Illinois nursing home through the Illinois Department of Public Health.

And click here for reports of Illinois nursing homes with recent violations.

State lawmakers have passed a historic nursing home reform bill and sent it to Gov. Pat Quinn for his signature, despite the protests of nursing home lobbyists who had fought measures to increase staffing in Illinois nursing homes, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Advocates say it is the biggest step taken in decades to reduce the risks of Chicago nursing home abuse and neglect as well as abuse in neglect in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities throughout Illinois.

The bill became one step closer to reality after passing out of the state legislature following tense eleventh-hour negotiations. The Tribune, which has conducted a number of exhaustive investigations detailing Illinois' ailing nursing home system, called it "a historic bill that aims to undo a half-century of failed policies and end a legacy of violence in which nursing home residents were raped, assaulted and murdered."

As we reported on our Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog, the industry fought reform even as evidence continued to mount that mentally ill felons being housed in nursing homes and inadequate staffing levels have led to a host of dangerous conditions.

The Tribune reports the sides reached some agreement in the 159-page bill; the governor's top health care advisor, Michael Gelder, was hugged by both the industry's top lobbyist and one of its toughest critics after the proposed law passed out of the House with a 118-0 vote.

"It sends a very clear message that nursing homes are going to provide high-quality care, and they're not going to be dominated by individuals who have put profit ahead of the care and needs of their residents," Gelder said.

The measure would enhance criminal background checks and psychological evaluations of incoming residents and separate dangerous patients from residents by placing them in secure wards. It would also require a significant increase in nursing home staffing and mandate more rigorous safety and treatment standards for mentally ill or dangerous residents.

The bill's most ambitious measures would move thousands of residents with mental health issues into smaller residential programs. While lawmakers were jubilant, they acknowledged the real work will be in implementing and regulating the new guidelines.

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The nursing home industry is quietly fighting a proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn that would raise minimum staffing levels in Illinois nursing homes, despite evidence that more staffing provides better care and improves resident's health, CBS2 reported.

The Associated Press reports that talks among lawmakers, nursing home officials and elder care advocates are scheduled to resume this week in Springfield but getting the industry to agree to increase staffing levels appears to be unlikely. National studies continue to show more care-hours leads to improved health, fewer bed sores and less unexplained weight loss among residents.

Advocates also contend it could lead to higher-quality staff and less turnover among nursing home employees.

Currently, Illinois requires nursing homes to provide at least 2.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Those rules require about 31 certified nurse aides and licensed nurses per 100 residents. Quinn is pushing to increase the minimum to 4.1 hours by 2014 for residents who need skilled care and 2.8 hours for those who require intermediate care. Some homes already meet those standards, while others do not. Industry executives have said that facilities relying upon Medicaid could not afford to hire more people to meet the proposed requirements.

The governor's proposal would also toughen oversight and raise fees and fines for nursing homes. As we reported earlier this year on our Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer blog, state officials have been scrambling to respond to a host of media reports and investigations outlining assaults, rapes and murders in Illinois nursing homes. The new proposals are part of the outcome of a special task force convened by Quinn last year.

The task force heard testimony about inadequate staffing, particularly at facilities serving poor and minority residents.

The across-the-board staffing increases are opposed by the Health Care Council of Illinois, the state's largest nursing home trade group. Union leaders support the increase, citing a 2001 study that found 4.1 hours of direct-care per day improves the quality of care received by nursing home residents.

An analysis of more than 15,000 nursing homes in 50 states by the Chicago Reporter found Illinois' for-profit nursing homes had the lowest average staffing level compared to those in other states.

Continue reading " Nursing home industry fights proposal to add staffing in effort to reduce Chicago area nursing home neglect and abuse " »