Elder Law

Illinois Nursing Home Closing After Failing to Meet Safety Standards

By Levin & Perconti

The Orchard Court Nursing Home in Jonesboro, Illinois was ordered closed recently by Illinois health department officials. WSIL News reported on the closing which will send 15 residents to new facilities in the area.

The nursing home will have 90 days to surrender its license, pay $12,000 in fines, and move its residents to other accommodations. These actions were required following a new report by the Illinois Department of Public Health which documented numerous failures at the facility in resident protection and safety. Specifically, the facility was found to have allowed certain residents to abuse other residents. One resident at Orchard Court, an 18 year old man, physically abused several others at the facility, including one attack that sent a 62 year old blind resident to the hospital.

The facility was attempting to be ac care facility for severely disabled residents who had been turned away from other nursing home. Management at the facility claim that the business simply did not have the funding to properly ensure that facility complied with all state laws. The facility was unable to properly maintain an individualized care plan to ensure the safety of each resident.

An official with the state health department explains, ?License revocation is not very common and for this to happen we definitely felt there were issues with continued care and operation with this facility.?

Our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti know that many nursing homes are similar to Orchard Court in that certain residents are not provided adequate protection against other abusive residents?physical, sexual, and mental abuses abound. However, we also know that examples of state department intervention are all too rare; instead the nursing home abuse often goes unchallenged. It is for that reason that we work directly with victims and their families to seek redress and force these facilities to improve the care they provide.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on October 31, 2010 (boomark / email).