Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

A major class-action lawsuit alleging nursing home abuse and neglect is drawing to a close this week in California. The suit challenges the care provided by one of the nation’s largest nursing home chains, Skilled HealthCare Group, Inc., a group that owns and operates 22 nursing homes in several states. As many as 32,000 patients may have suffered as a resulf of the nursing home group's patterns of negligence.

Skilled HealthCare is alleged to have provided inadequate staffing levels at several of their facilities over a six year period. Evidence has indicated that Skilled HealthCare fell short of the 3.2 hours of direct resident care per day mandated by state law. That care is supposed to include the vital services of registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and certified nursing assistants. The result of those years of neglect meant that residents were forced to sit in soiled bed sheets for days, walk around with catheters dragging on the ground, and have pressure wounds left untreated. The total amount of suffering by the residents at those facilities will likely never be fully known.

The case is a striking reminder of how widespread nursing home abuse remains across the country and the need to keep a vigilant eye on the care of all residents of these facilities. Elder neglect and abuse abounds when these facilities focus more on squeezing the budget instead of providing the legally mandated care that residents and taxpayers are entitled. All too often these abuses go unreported and the neglect continues. A District Attorney involved in the Skilled HealthCare class-action suit acknowledged that this nursing home abuse was a “long-term problem” and that there was “overwhelming evidence that the law has been broken.”

The Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti have fought similar elder abuse battles, protecting residents from all forms of nursing home neglect. They will remain even more vigilant in the coming months, as Illinois Governor Pat Quinn moves to sign a bill that will increase the required care per resident at Illinois facilities to 3.8 hours a day. It is vital that you contact an elder abuse attorney if you suspect any violation to ensure these laws are followed.

To learn more about this nursing home abuse lawsuit, please click the link.

People frequently hear or read the term elder abuse, but few understand what constitutes abuse of older citizens. The term describes any type of wrong committed against an older person including emotional, physical or sexual violence or abuse. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, it is difficult to determine the number of elderly people who fall victim to abuse because incidents often go unreported because they frequently occur in a domestic setting. There is also no national database to track the incidence of abuse among elders. However, a study by the National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and Neglect estimates that 1-2 million older adults have been victims of abuse.

Elder abuse occurs in many ways and caregivers are often the culprits. The different types of elder abuse include:

-Physical abuse: When someone uses brute force to inflict pain or injury to an older person.

- Neglect: When a caretaker fails to perform their duties to deliver life’s necessities or protect the well-being of an older person who relies on them.

-Financial abuse and exploitation: When someone misuses an older person’s money or assets.

-Emotional abuse: When a person uses verbal assaults, threats or harassment to inflict pain or anguish on an older person.

-Sexual abuse: When a person participates in sexual acts with an older person without their consent.

-Nursing home abuse: When a resident falls victim to any type of abuse in a long-term care facility.

Elder abuse is a growing problem and it is important to raise awareness in order to protect this vulnerable population. If you suspect that a loved one has been the victim of ANY type of elder abuse, contact an elder abuse lawyer who can help you take legal action to ensure that wrongdoers are held accountable for the harms caused. If you believe that an acquaintance, neighbor, or any older person is being abuse, you can also call the Illinois Elder Abuse hotline to report it: 1-866-800-1409.

The Madison/St. Clair Record is reporting that nursing home lawyers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family member of a man who died while under the home’s care. According to the article, the man suffered malnutrition, dehydration, a urinary tract infection and pressure sores in the month that he resided there. The suit alleges that the nursing home failed to provide the proper care and failed to implement a proper plan to treat his pressure ulcers. The home also failed to tell his physician when his condition changed and failed to make sure he maintained a proper body weight. As a result of these failures on behalf of the nursing home owners and staff, the victim incurred medical costs and was subject to severe pain and suffering.

Residents are susceptible to pressure sores because many people in nursing homes are immobile or completely bed-ridden. Pressure ulcers can contribute to a worsening of one’s condition and can lead to infection and even death. In the 80’s, nursing home laws such as OBRA 87 were established to create a standard of care by which all nursing home must comply. Facilities are obligated to carry out the necessary care and treatment to prevent pressure sores from forming or existing pressure sores from worsening. Despite the established standards of care, data from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Nursing Home Survey revealed that in 2004, 11% of all nursing home residents had pressure ulcers. To combat this problem, it is important for nursing homes to employ every possible tactic to prevent pressure sores from forming in the first place. To learn more about this Illinois nursing home lawsuit, follow the link.

Chicago nursing home lawyer Susan Novosad of Levin & Perconti helped the family of a victim of nursing home abuse in their settlement against the Mercy Health Care Rehabilitation Center, securing a $690,000 settlement for the 87-year-old victim's family recently.

The victim was initially admitted to the nursing home after suffering a stroke that caused her some left-sided weakness. When she entered the nursing home she required supervision and needed assistance with activities. She was known to be a fall risk. However, despite the nursing home’s knowledge of her fall risk, they allowed her to fall. She suffered a right femur fracture which was treated with a brace. While still in the nursing home’s care, she suffered a skin breakdown from the brace rubbing against her leg. This breakdown still went untreated by the nursing home staff and the victim developed Osteomyelitis. The combination of the fracture and the infection contributed to the victim’s death seven months later, according to the settlement report.

The nursing home negligence complaint alleged that the defendant nursing home failed to appropriately develop, implement or revise a care plan to address the decedent’s fall risk and failed to ensure that the decedent received proper supervision to prevent falls. It also stated that after her fall, the nursing home failed to provide preventative measures to avoid the development of skin breakdown, and failed to provide the necessary treatment and services to promote the healing of the decedent’s skin breakdown. If you believe that a nursing home is not addressing your loved one’s risk for falls, we recommend that you consult with staff to address the preventions they are using to prevent falls. If your loved one endures a serious injury in a nursing home fall, consult a nursing home lawyer.

The Madison/St. Clair Record is reporting that the administrator of a victim’s estate has filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit against an Illinois facility in Belleville called the Lincoln Home. The nursing home lawsuit alleges that the woman suffered a broken thigh bone while a resident at the nursing home. The complaint states that the nursing home employees were continuously violated her rights until her death. The victim had sustained a comminuted left femur fracture while she stayed at the nursing home which caused her repeated pain, mental anguish and emotional distress. The Chicago injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti have previously filed a lawsuit against the Lincoln Home after the home neglected to prevent a victim from falling.

The nursing home lawsuit claims that the home failed to evaluate Lockett to ensure she received adequate supervision, failed to provide her with adequate care, failed to provide her with immediate treatment by trained personnel, failed to notify her physician of significant changes in her physical condition, failed to ensure that they established a nursing care plan based on her needs, failed to provide necessary services to maintain Lockett's highest state of well-being and failed to appropriately update her plan following her fracture.

Weiss Management, which owned The Lincoln Home, also allegedly performed a number of negligent acts, including its failure to operate the home in such a way that provided Lockett with adequate supervision, its failure to operate the home in such a way as to protect Lockett from neglect, its failure to properly monitor its employees and staff, its failure to screen and evaluate the references of nursing staff, its failure to terminate employees at the home who were known to be careless and incompetent, its failure to provide nursing personnel duties consistent with their education, its failure to prevent and correct problems at the nursing home and its failure to discharge its legal obligations. To read more about this nursing home abuse case, please click the link.

The Chicago Law Bulletin is reporting that Illinois Governor Quinn may soon sign legislation that will greatly reform nursing homes. The bill has already passed both chambers of the legislature was the result of many task forces that were created in response to violence and sexual abuse in the understaffed nursing homes. The bill would increase the required staffing in Illinois’ 1,200 nursing homes to 3.8 hours of nursing care for each resident. Additionally, the licenses fees for nursing homes would increase as well as fines for any nursing homes guilty of nursing home abuse.

The new nursing home legislation would also change the number of inspectors employed at the Illinois Department of Public Health. By 2013 Illinois would be required to employ one inspector for every 300 licensed nursing home beds. Hospitals are also affected. They would be required to initiate criminal background checks before transferring patients who are ambulatory and between 18 and 70 years old to nursing homes for the first time. This provision was implemented because many nursing home residents were physically and sexually abusing other residents in the homes. The problems of mixing those elderly residents with the mentally ill have created many problems. The bill tries to address this by including a pilot program to require expanded fingerprint background checks for those younger residents in mixed homes. This will hopefully put an end to the sexual assaults and batteries that occur at the home.

The Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti applaud the efforts of the Illinois legislature to hold nursing homes more accountable for their actions. The safety of our most vulnerable residents should be a top priority. Hopefully, these measures will be able to prevent nursing home abuse from occurring, and will send a strong message to those nursing homes who continue to commit elderly abuse.

The State Journal-Register is reporting that the Illinois Attorney General’s office has conducted a sweep at the Golden Moments Senior Care Center in Jacksonville, Illinois. This was the 11th sweep of an Illinois nursing home in the past several months. There were five former sex offenders living in the nursing home. The nursing home was targeted because it had not complied with risk assessments for three of these five residents. Although the felons are placed in their own separate rooms, the attorney general’s office believes that this puts the other residents at risk for being abused by the felons. These risk assessments are mandated by state law. To learn more about this Illinois nursing home raid, please check out the link.

This is not the first time that Golden Moments Senior Care Center has been under attack. In February of this year, they were fined for $50,000 for nursing home abuse after the wrongful death of a 74-year-old resident. In this case, the resident choked on food despite staffer’s awareness that he had a risk of choking on food. In 2009, the nursing home was fined $20,000 after the home was accused of failing to keep residents from being mentally, verbally and physically abused. Staff members were causing residents to cry and were slapped in the face.

Nursing homes that have a history of elderly abuse and neglect must be closely watched by government entities. This Jacksonville nursing home has several documented cases of abuse that have spanned a great deal of time. The type of violations that the nursing home has been guilty of has varied a great deal. This shows that the nursing home has difficulties not only keeping track of residents, but their employees as well. If you or a family member have been injured as a result of negligence at Golden Moments or any Illinois nursing home, please consult a Chicago nursing home attorney to discuss your potential claim.

Chicago nursing home attorney Susan Novosad of Levin & Perconti helped a victim of nursing home negligence settle a lawsuit against Manorcare Health Services, Inc. in Libertyville, Illinois. HRC Manor Care at Libertyville settled the nursing home lawsuit for $650,000 with the former nursing home resident. The victim was first admitted to the nursing home in April 2007 for rehabilitation after spinal surgery. While the staff did develop a care plan, they failed to include any individualized approaches to prevent pressure ulcers. About a month after her admission to the nursing home, employees discovered a very large necrotic sacral pressure ulcer and she had to be transferred to a local hospital for treatment. The nursing home victim home injuries included an infected pressure ulcers and osteomyelitis which resulted in surgery and a prolonged long-term care stay.

Residents in nursing homes are susceptible to developing pressure ulcers because many are in wheelchairs or are immobile. If nursing home staff fails to turn or reposition residents on a regular basis, residents may develop pressures ulcers. Staff must also frequently check the skin condition of residents who are at risk for pressure sores to ensure that sores are not forming. Prevention is the key, as they are very difficult to treat. If a nursing home does everything they can to prevent pressure sores and a sore forms, the home has a duty to treat the injury to try to prevent it from worsening. To learn more, visit the Mayo Clinic's page on pressure sore prevention.

The Northwest Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times are reporting that a former nursing assistant has been jailed after he was caught on video poking holes in a resident with Alzheimer’s disease's medication patch. The nursing assistant then licked the painkiller off his finger to administer the medication to himself. The 25-year-old male was charged with the crime of aggravated battery to an elderly person. This nursing home abuse occurred at the Fair Oaks Health Care Center in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

After the incident, the CNA was arrested and the nursing home fired him. He was caught after other nursing home staff members noticed that the 92-year-old victim’s patch had some discoloration. After this observation, the staff set up video surveillance in the woman’s room and this led to the CNA's arrest. The victim's family was notified of the incident.

The Crystal Lake Police Chief noted that it was quite desperate that the nursing assistant needed to drain Fentanyl from an elderly woman’s patch. The defendant allegedly would roll the woman on her side and poke holes in her mediation patch using a safety pin. He would then remove the Fentanyl, squeezing the patch four or five times to obtain the narcotic. In order to work as a nursing assistant in an Illinois nursing home, nursing homes must do a thorough background check on each prospective CNA. This is an important step to hiring nursing home employees, allowing the homes to screen applicants in order to help reduce the risk of nursing home abuse and neglect. This history must have no administrative finding of elder abuse, neglect or misappropriated property in Illinois. A certified nursing assistant may not begin working until they meet all training requirements.

Although these measures are put into place to protect residents, abuse and neglect still occur. In this situation, the nursing home staff acted appropriately when they suspected that someone was altering the resident's painkiller patch. To read more about this incident of Illinois nursing home abuse, please click the link.

Financial exploitation of the elderly has become a large problem within the elderly community. The State Journal-Register is reporting that a Hillsboro, Illinois man was arrested for his involvement in the financial exploitation of an elderly person. The thirty year old man reportedly had an arrangement with an elderly person in the area to do miscellaneous work. This person then became a victim when the defendant was given blank signed checks to buy materials for the projects. The man then used the blank checks to buy more than $300 worth of personal items. Deputies were able to uncover several items purchased by the defendant with the victim’s money while executing a search warrant in his residence. To read more about this specific case of the financial exploitation of the elderly, please click the link.

Illinois has a specific statute that prohibits the financial exploitation of an elderly person. Under 720 ILCS 5/15-1.3 a person commits the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly person when they “stand in a position of trust or confidence with the elderly person and by deception or intimidation controls over the property of an elderly person or uses the assets of that person." This is a class 4 felony if the property is less than $300, a class 3 felony if less than $5,000 but more than $300 and a class 2 felony if in between $5,000 and $10,000. Finally, if a person exploits an elderly or disabled person out of more than $10,000 it is a class one felony. All felonies are punishable with jail time. If you believe you or a loved one is a victim of financial exploitation of the elderly we recommend that you contact your local law enforcement. If this exploitation occurred in an Illinois nursing home, you may also have a case for nursing home abuse. Please consult a Chicago nursing home attorney to further discuss your case and your legal options.

The Madison Record is reporting a case of serious Illinois nursing home abuse. A Cahokia woman is claiming that nursing home employees at St. Paul's Home in Belleville, IL allowed her to sustain numerous injuries while she was a resident. The victim filed the nursing home lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court on April 29. The suit claims that the while the victim lived at the nursing home, nursing home employees violated her rights as a resident through multiple acts. Employees failed to elevate the woman’s feet to offer the proper treatment and care for her edema, or swelling. The negligence suit also claims that they failed to assist her to the shower which resulted in a fall where she suffered injuries to her ankle and her leg. Finally, the nursing home lawsuit claims that the victim had a contusion to her leg due after nursing home employees hit her with a motorized wheelchair. She is seeking a judgment of more than $30,000 plus other costs.

Nursing home staffing levels greatly affect resident well-being and care. When homes do not employ enough staff members to properly care for residents, there is an increased chance for residents to be injured or killed due to nursing home abuse and neglect. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a nursing home with insufficient staffing levels, you may be able to seek compensation. Please consult a Chicago nursing home lawyer to learn more about your legal options. To read more about this nursing home neglect lawsuit please click the link.

The Illinois Senate has given an overwhelming amount of support to Illinois nursing home legislation that will overhaul the standards for care and safety in Illinois troubled nursing homes. This new legislation was written after a Chicago Tribune investigation that revealed a great number of attacks, rapes and murders in nursing homes that mixed elderly residents with convicted felons.

The Illinois nursing home bill was approved by the Senate with a vote of 46-8. It will require nursing homes to increase staffing levels. Many studies have shown that those nursing homes with a higher resident to staff member ratio tend to have a lower rate of nursing home abuse. The nursing home legislation will also ensure that those residents in nursing homes will have a higher standard to meet upon admittance if they have a serious mental illness. Illinois has the highest number of mentally ill residents living amongst elderly residents of all the states. Finally the nursing home legislation will segregate the most dangerous residents in secure units where intensive monitoring and treatment will be ushered by employees. This will help decrease the amount of attacks that occur between mentally ill residents and the general population.

State senator Heather Steans of Chicago stated that this was long overdue legislation in Illinois. The legislation reflects some of the 38 recommendations given by Governor Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force. The Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti applaud the efforts of the Illinois Senate to decrease nursing home abuse. To read more about the nursing home legislation, please click the link.

May 9-15 has been declared National Nursing Home Week by the American Health Care Association. This is an important week because every year thousands of nursing home residents become victims of elderly abuse and neglect. This week is a good week to reflect on what everyone can do to better protect these vulnerable residents. The Chicago nursing home lawyers of Levin & Perconti have handled nursing home cases since 1992. We believe that it is essential for people to understand the exact meaning of nursing home abuse and neglect and what can be done if they suspect their loved one is a victim.

There are many signs of nursing home abuse and neglect. They not only affect an elderly resident’s physical well-being but their mental and emotional spirit as well. Some signs to watch for with nursing home neglect include:

- Falls
- Pressure ulcers
- Malnutrition and/or dehydration
- Over-medication
- Cuts, bruises or broken bones
- Poor hygiene
- An unclean environment and/or smells
- Weight loss
- Changes in demeanor
- Wandering or elopement
- Medication errors

Try talking to a long-term-care ombudsmen or voice your concerns to the Illinois Department of Public Health if you have noticed one of these signs in a loved one. If you or a loved one has fallen victim to nursing home abuse, please contact a Chicago nursing home lawyer. Taking legal action will not only compensate the victim, but it sends a harsh message that nursing home owners must be held accountable for the actions. This way they will improve the conditions and quality care for nursing home residents.

MyWebtimes.com is reporting that a fourth lawsuit has been filed against LaSalle County Nursing Home for nursing home abuse. The nursing home sexual abuse lawsuit was brought on behalf of a 90-year-old former resident of the home and claims that she was sexually assaulted by a male resident at the facility. The suit claims that not only did this man sexually assault about a dozen residents; he also had a history of such abuse. The Illinois nursing home lawsuit is asking for $50,000 in damages for the nursing home abuse because the facility failed to protect the resident from the physical, mental and physiological injuries that she endured.

The nursing home lawsuit also states that the staff members at LaSalle County Nursing Home did nothing to protect the woman from the sexual abuse at the hands of her fellow resident. Recently, three top administrators at the nursing home have resigned and the suspect has been moved to a psychiatric facility. The Illinois nursing home has also been fined for their inaction. To read more about this nursing home lawsuit, please click the link.

This is a perfect example of how a lack of nursing home staffing can make it hard for direct care workers to provide both supervision and attention to each individual resident. Countless studies have shown that a lack in supervision can lead to serious problems with nursing home residents. These problems include injuries from falls, resident elopement and medication errors. Also, as seen in recent Illinois nursing homes, a lack of sufficient staff can lead to physical and sexual abuse amongst residents.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan led a team of state and local law enforcement officials in a sweep of Presidential Pavilion on Chicago’s south side. The nursing home sweep was planned to find wanted criminals at the nursing home. Three arrests of felons were made at Presidential Pavilion in the unannounced visit. Madigan arrived at the nursing home accompanied by 30 police and state officials who went room to room talking to the residents about their nursing home safety.

The authorities had issued 14 warrants for felon residents at Presidential Pavilion. Their were 20 resident in the nursing home that had a criminal record of a total of 950 arrests and 399 convictions. Morris Esformes owns this nursing home and total they control 28 homes in Illinois and Florida. This raid occurs as Governor Quinn and his nursing home task force are in the final stages of completing a nursing home safety-reform bill. This Illinois nursing home legislation will help decrease the nursing home abuse that so often occurs in Chicago nursing home. The nursing home debates include increasing nursing home employees at facilities. This is an extremely important matter because studies show that the per staff to resident ratio has the greatest effect on nursing home abuse. There will also be stiffer penalties for those nursing home that commit nursing home abuse. These raids and the new legislation will greatly help reduce the problems that are occurring in Illinois nursing homes. To read more about the nursing home raids, please click the link.

Fox River Pavilion, a nursing home in Aurora, IL, may become the second Illinois nursing home to lose its license in recent months. According to a report in the Belleville News Democrat, Illinois Department of Public Health regulators have fined the nursing home over $30,000 recently because of allegations that the nursing home failed to provide proper supervision to its residents. The nursing home housed many younger residents who suffer from significant mental illnesses and many of the home’s residents have been relocated to other facilities since the home lost its Medicaid funding.

The IDPH investigations and subsequent actions to revoke the nursing home’s license stem from an incident in December in which a resident was killed after an altercation with another resident. According to the News Democrat article, a third resident of the nursing home told IDPH investigators that the victim cried for help for twenty minutes but the Fox River Pavilion staff failed to respond. The victim died from a heart problem, but also suffered a fractured knee and bloodied face in the fight. The negligent nursing home was also alleged to have allowed a resident to consume toilet paper, tissues and surgical gloves, and a resident with suicidal tendencies was allowed access to razor blades that she used to injure herself.

Chicago nursing home lawyers understand that when nursing home corporations do not sufficiently staff their facilities, there is a higher risk for residents to become victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Without the proper staffing ratios, even the most dedicated direct care givers cannot provide the care and attention that most nursing home residents need. In order to ensure resident safety and well-being, it is essential for nursing homes to employ sufficient and well-trained staff that can supervise and care for every resident in their care. To read more about the IDPH’s actions to revoke the Aurora nursing home license, click the link.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is reporting that they are now notifying those nursing homes who are candidates to become Special Focus Facilities (SFF). SFFs are chosen from among the 15 worst-scoring nursing home in each individual state. Those who chose SFFs analyze the Five-Star Quality Nursing Home Rating System in order to choose which homes make the list. Once a home is chosen as an SFF it is subject to extra inspections and increased enforcement.

The NCCNHR is reporting that of the 355 nursing homes in the SFF program since January of 2005, 51 percent graduated. This means that they had two consecutive standard surveys and no complaint investigations. However, this also shows that almost half of the nursing homes failed to improve. They will continue to remain in the program designed to curb nursing home neglect and abuse. The GAO discovered that SFFs were more likely to be for-profit nursing homes who were affiliated with chain owners.

The SFFs are sorted into different categories by the CMS. One such category is facilities that have not improved. Currently, Illinois has one nursing home in this list, Embassy Health Care Center in Wilmington, Illinois. There is also a category for facilities that are beginning to show improvement. Two Chicago nursing homes are in this SFF category. Both Alden Wentworth Rehab & Healthcare Center and International Nursing And Rehab Center are located on the city’s south side. Additionally, Pekin Manor in Pekin, Illinois is identified as an SFF. To locate more nursing homes that have been designated as SFFs, please click the link.

The Chicago Defender is reporting that the Chicago nursing home of Somerset Place has had to give up their nursing home license. They also have to pay fines that will total $20,000. Until their closure, Somerset Place had more than 300 mentally ill residents housed in the facility. Investigators found that the nursing home had many fights and verbal abuse amongst the elderly residents and the mentally ill patients. The nursing home was also cited for lack of supervision to the point that the federal government terminated their funding. Countless nursing home studies have found that proper staffing is one of the quintessential factors to a well-functioning nursing home. If you or a loved one experienced nursing home abuse at Somerset Place, please consult a Chicago nursing home lawyer.

While a license-revocation hearing was scheduled for this week, it was canceled due to the recent settlement. Somerset Place had been owned by a group of investors and was a for-profit nursing home. To read more about Somerset Place’s closure, please click the link.

The Illinois Department of Health is responsible for the regulation of nursing homes along with to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Illinois licensure surveys are conducted on the nursing home site and cover a three to four day period. These inspectors evaluate all aspects of resident care by making sure residents are being properly medicated, fed and looked after. As in the above case, they also look into any suspected or alleged crimes and consult with the local police department. The IDPH plays a vital role in the assurance of nursing home safety and seek to diminish nursing home abuse.

Federal investigators have discovered that a nursing home doctor who treated many Illinois nursing home residents was using referrals to gain kickbacks and monetary bribes, endangering the safety and well-being of those under his care. These investigators, along with The Chicago Tribune, uncovered that thousands of dollars were moving between physicians, nursing home owners and hospital administrators, all the while nursing homes focused on keeping populations up and nursing home beds full.

This corruption led to the public paying millions of dollars in Medicaid and Medicare bills while a select few profited. Federal prosecutors found that the doctor at the center of the controversy was guilty of accepting more than $500,000 in kickbacks for referring residents to specific long-term care facilities. The doctor is now serving a six-year sentence in prison.

The operation revolved around Rock Creek Center which is located in Lemont, Illinois, however the hospital was never charged. The investigation also found that Methodist Hospital and Loretto Hospital were paying the doctor to bring patients into the Chicago facilities. Along with these hospitals, the article also mentions the involvement of Illinois nursing home owners Floyd Schlossberg and the Esformes family. Schlossberg owns the Alden group of nursing homes, including Alden Wentworth, Alden Princeton and Alden Northmoor. According to the IDPH website, the Esformes family has ownership in nursing homes such as Burnham Healthcare and Crestwood Care. The article alleges that while serving as the medical director at Burnham Healthcare, the doctor was aware of false charting by other physicians. Negligent behavior such as this can be extremely harmful to residents and can lead them to suffer serious injuries or medical conditions without receiving the proper care or treatment.

Additionally, the article reports that the nursing homes actively recruited psychiatric patients to fill beds in order for the nursing homes to receive federal money. These greedy acts of filling beds and unneccessarily moving residents to psychiatric facilities were harmful to vulnerable nursing home residents because they were not receiving the proper care for their conditions. To read the Tribune's full report on the Chicago nursing home scheme, please click the link.

Illinois legislators and advocates for nursing home residents will meet today to discuss a very important topic in nursing home reform: staffing. Our Chicago nursing home attorneys support measures to increase minimum staffing levels and believe that doing so will help to improve resident well-being and reduce the occurence of abuse and neglect in nursing homes throughout Illinois. Currently, many nursing homes in our area operate with minimum staff, making it difficult for direct care workers to provide the care and attention that most nursing home residents require. When staff cannot deliver adequate care, residents are at risk for injuries such as pressure sores, malnutrition, dehydration, and are also more likely to fall or wander away from the nursing home.

In an article on the CBS 2 website, Rev. Elaine Bellis from the Community Renewal Society's Senior Action Network sums up the situation well. According to Rev. Bellis, "One person cannot take care of 30 people and do the kind of job they're expected to do" leading to "constant turnover and burnout" among nursing home staff. The article notes that the Governor and groups like the SEIU and Illinois AARP support mandatory increases in nursing home staffing levels, along with larger fines and more oversight. The nursing home industry is expected to oppose staffing increases, arguing that nursing homes that rely heavily on Medicaid funding cannot afford to operate at higher staffing levels.

We encourage readers to contact their Illinois legislators in support of nursing home reform to create better care and safer nursing homes. To read the full article on the proposed nursing home reform in Illinois click the hyperlink.