Elder Law

Nursing Home Accountability Obviously Lacking

By Levin & Perconti

One of the problems with the Illinois government is that taxpayers don?t see a good investment for their dollar. Last week it was revealed that Illinois nursing home administrators are rarely disciplined when nursing home negligence occurs. Between 2005 and 2009, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation received 407 complaints from the state?s health department about nursing homes across the state. However, only three of those cases resulted in discipline for nursing home administrators. The numbers were put together by a task force that formed after it was revealed nursing homes had a series of assaults, rapes and murders in Illinois nursing homes. Currently, nursing home residents advocates are closely watching a case in an Elgin nursing home where a 21-year-old mentally ill resident sexually assaulted a 69-year-old woman. The state is alleging that a more thorough background check would have revealed that the young resident had an outstanding warrant on felony battery charges. By checking into the resident?s past the nursing home administrator would have avoided the elderly sexual abuse. Nursing home administrators should be liable for background checks on new residents. Illinois has an obvious broken nursing home administration system. To read more about the nursing home falter, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).