Category: Nursing Home Neglect

Background checks meant to protect Illinois nursing home residents from dangerous felons moving into a home often miss violent crimes, downplay the risk they pose to aging seniors and leave nursing home residents vulnerable to abuse, according to an investigative report by the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers at Abels & Annes continue to monitor the issue of unqualified employees or residents — including convicted felons — being hired by or housed in Illinois nursing homes and elder care facilities.

The average cost of nursing home care in this country hovers around $6,000 per month. Half of the nation’s 18 million nursing home beds are operated by large chains and two-thirds of all nursing homes are for-profit companies.

The Tribune investigation found some residents who had a history of violent crime went on to commit assaults or other serious crimes inside the homes where they lived.

Illinois became the first state to require background checks for all residents as part of a 2006 law meant to address the growing number of mentally ill felons entering the state’s nursing facilities. The checks are used to screen high-risk individuals who require close monitoring or private living quarters.

But the Tribune’s review of 45 recent cases found many instances of incomplete assessments that left out crucial details, including criminal convictions. The report also found long delays in completing the checks — sometimes resulting in felons living among residents for more than a year.

And of the more than 3,000 convicted felons living in Illinois nursing homes this summer, less than 30, or 1 percent, were classified as high-risk, which requires homes to place them in single rooms near nurses’ stations.

Two-thirds — a total of 2,077 felons — were classified as “low risk,” meaning the nursing homes are permitted to treat them no different than residents without criminal records.

With the aging Baby-Boomers set to further crowd a system that is a routine target for state and federal budget cuts, more and more Illinois residents will be forced to rely upon the state’s nursing homes for care. The federal government estimates that half of those over 65 will spend time in a nursing home.
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The Chicago nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at Abels & Annes continue to monitor changes in elder care at the state level that could impact the welfare of your loved ones in Illinois nursing homes.

The American Association of Retired Persons issued a statement last week decrying the impact of the new state budget on elder care and an Illinois newspaper slammed a court ruling against hiking fines against nursing homes for serious violations of care standards.

You heard that right. The state is making drastic cuts to elder care to balance its budget even as its court system ruled it cannot raise fines for abuse and neglect violations to generate income.

“By neglecting the needs of hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents, children, families and the elderly, this budget puts our state’s worst foot forward,” said Bob Gallo, state director for the AARP in Illinois. “At a time when people need state programs the most, like those that help people have access to healthcare and relief from high prescription drug costs, this budget pulls the rug out from underneath them.”

Among the cuts opposed by the AARP:

-Community care programs slated to be cut in half, leaving 26,000 without the care they need to remain in their communities and subjecting them to more costly instituional care, such as nursing homes.

-Eliminating the Elder Abuse and Neglect Program — meaning 11,000 cases won’t be investigated.

-Closing all four Illinois veteran’s homes.

– Cutting home services for the disabled.

Meanwhile, the Peoria Journal Star points to a ruling from a Sangamon County Judge earlier this year that limits the Illinois Department of Public Health’s ability to issue fines to $10,000 per incident of abuse or neglect.

The paper notes fines were increased under former Gov. Blagojevich and were opposed in court by nursing homes that were fined for infections, beatings and health problems that led to the deaths of residents.

“We’re told by those who represent residents’ concerns at the 114 nursing homes in the Peoria region that the average price of a private-pay nursing home approaches $5,000 a month,” the paper wrote in an editorial. “If the maximum fine for any offense, no matter how extreme, is $10,000, then a mere one month’s rent of one double-bed room covers it. That’s a slap on the wrist that is unlikely to induce a substandard facility to get any better.”

With the aging of Baby Boomers, the state and federal resources for elder care should be expanding. Instead they are shrinking — which in and of itself can lead to substandard care, overcrowding, and neglect or abuse.

Thus, the responsibility for researching a potential home for a loved one increasingly falls on the public.

The Illinois Department of Health offers a number of resources:
Continue reading “Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers monitoring impact of state budget on elder care in Illinois”

In the Chicago area south suburb of Burnham, Illinois, it is being reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that a nursing home resident who died almost two weeks ago was murdered. The victim who resided at a nursing facility at 14500 S. Manistee Avenue past away from multiple injuries sustained in an attack.

He later died on April 1, 2009 at South Shore Hospital. Local authorities have ruled the death a homicide. Illinois State Police are now involved in the investigation.

The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy was performed by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. The victim also suffered from hypertension and diabetes.

It has not been reported yet how the attack took place. However, the fact that the attack took place at all is a strong evidence of nursing home neglect and/or abuse. It is very likely that the family of the victim will soon retain a Chicago Nursing Home Lawyer to review the case.