August 20, 2010

State Pays $16 Million in Nursing Home Lawsuit

The Washington Post published a story yesterday on the latest development in a large class-action nursing home lawsuit out of Maryland. On Wednesday the state began paying $16 million to various nursing homes and their residents as part of a settlement from a nursing home lawsuit filed in 2005.

The lawsuit involved the improper methods that the state used to gauge the ability of nursing home residents to pay for their own care without government assistance. According to the lawsuit, state officials erroneously inflated the income of certain nursing home residents. The state consequently used that inflation to refuse to provide supplemental financial support to offset the cost of their medical care at nursing homes.

Specifically, both state law and federal law required the state to consider the debt that a resident accrues while awaiting approval for Medicaid coverage as part of the calculation into their ability to pay for their own care without government support. Yet, officials did not factor this adverse financial burden into assessing resident finances. As a result of their mistake, many nursing home residents were left in severe financial straits—needing nursing home care but unable to pay for all of those services without some assistance from state welfare agencies.

In total almost 12,000 current and former residents were affected by the violation of nursing home law. The settlement will attempt to provide relief to those victimized by the legal wrong. Besides that basic fair compensation the resolution of the case also shone a light on the problem, ensuring that from now on the state will make changes to its calculation of funding. In that way, future nursing home residents are spared the stress and heartache of trying to survive while being denied legally obligated medical funds.

As this case demonstrates, and as our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti have learned, lawsuits can serve an important social function. Besides attempting to correct a wrong to a particular resident, these lawsuits often serve as wake-up calls to extremely negligent conduct. In that way, future harm is prevented and the system of care is improved for all.

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August 6, 2010

Effect of New Illinois Nursing Home Laws

In several posts over the past two weeks we reported on the new legislation recently passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn to improve safety and care at nursing homes in Illinois. The new Illinois nursing home law mandated new staffing levels at many facilities and increased background checking of incoming residents. The purpose of both prongs of the legislation was to ensure that all residents were lawfully at the facility and that sufficient resources were available to provide them with the level of care they deserved.

The effects of the new mandates are already being seen at Illinois nursing homes as several facilities begin ramping up their staff levels and quality of care measures. For example, as reported in Rockford’s Channel 13 News, the Asta Care Center in Rockford recently admitted that to comply with the new regulations, it would need to hire two to four more psychiatrists and social workers. These new workers, said an administrator at the facility, will provide more daily face-to-face interaction with nursing home residents. This increased professional care will allow the facility to properly measure the happiness of the residents of efficacy of the nursing home’s programs on health and wellness. These are small, but important steps in the effort to stop nursing home abuse and neglect.

These new requirements incumbent upon Illinois nursing homes mark the bare minimum quality of care for elderly residents at these nursing homes. The failure of many current facilities to meet these basic care standards marks the obvious problem we still have across the state in providing abuse-free treatment of our seniors.

Our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti understand this continual fight to provide respectable care to our vulnerable seniors. We plan on working hard to ensure that the new law in Illinois is honored by nursing home administrators. If you suspect inadequate care at a facility near you, please contact our office to discuss the legal options to improve the quality of care provided to the residents at the nursing home.

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August 4, 2010

Illinois Legislator Discusses New Nursing Home Law

Illinois State Senator Gary Forby recently wrote an article discussing new Illinois nursing home law. As published in the Carmi Times, the new rules and regulations passed by the Illinois General Assembly were designed to curb the widespread negligence at many nursing homes in Illinois.

Specifically, previous investigations at Illinois care facilities had highlighted the prevalence of physical abuse often caused by inadequate background checks of incoming residents. Many Illinois nursing homes admit convicted felons and residents with dangerous psychiatric disorders. These individuals place other elderly nursing home residents in danger of assault, battery, theft, and other crimes. The prevalence of felons in Illinois nursing homes has most recently been exposed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s surprise nursing home inspections. The Attorney General has conducted a dozen unannounced investigations so far, each time finding several convicted felons hiding among our elderly nursing home residents.

The Illinois governor signed a bill this week seeking to help curb some of these rampant nursing home abuse problems in Illinois. The new bill requires better screening procedures to ensure that new residents are not using the facility to hide from authorities. This includes timely criminal background checks within 24 hours of a possible new resident entering a facility. The screening will also assess whether a resident applicant with certain mental instabilities may be better served at a different location.

In addition the law increases the staffing ratio required at each facility and the number of hours of nursing care that each resident will receive per day. These necessary changes are targeted at limiting the abuses and neglect caused by too few nurses and aides unable to spend the necessary time with each patient to provide the care mandated by law.

On top of that, accountability will be strengthened at the facility, with more state inspectors. These inspectors will help in the daunting process of monitoring the new law to ensure that nursing home comply with the law. All too often, new laws lack effectiveness, because nursing home administrators simply refuse to adequately follow the guidelines and the state does not adequately monitor the homes to ensure that the law is followed.

As we have consistently done in the past, our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti will keep a vigilant eye on all Illinois nursing homes to ensure that this new law is enforced. The care of our elderly residents should never be sacrificed, and the laws must be respected. If you suspect any violations of these new requirement s, please contact our offices.

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June 2, 2010

Illinois Nursing Homes are Facing Reformation

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.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Incidents, Legislation

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May 17, 2010

Financial Exploitation of the Elderly an Ever-growing Problem in Illinois

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.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Financial Exploitation, Financial abuse and exploitation, Legislation

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May 9, 2010

Nursing Home Reform Bill sent to Illinois Governor

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.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Home Abuse, Chicago Nursing Homes, Legislation

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April 20, 2010

Staffing Increases Will Help Prevent Abuse and Neglect in Illinois Nursing Homes

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.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation

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April 8, 2010

Illinois Long Term Care Ombudsman on Nursing Home Reform

Recently an Illinois long-term care ombudsman wrote to the State Journal-Register to discuss the importance of nursing home reform, a sentiment shared by many advocacy groups. The AARP, Illinois Citizens for Better Care, and Next Steps are all backing Illinois Senate Bill 685, which advocates a proposal to fix the quality of care in nursing homes. Also the Governor’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force, House Bill 6440, will hopefully incorporate the new measures.

This Illinois nursing home legislation will ensure that there are background checks for those residents who have been identified as being potentially dangerous. It will also include mandatory drug-specific informed consent for psychotropic drugs. There will be increased fines for nursing homes that are providing poor care. This legislation will affect poorly performing nursing homes and help those residing in the homes. By recommending minimum staffing and improved training to employees, residents will have much greater care because staff would be able to devote more time and attention to each resident. Better staffing, hopefully, would lead to fewer incidents of nursing home falls, pressure sores, physical and sexual abuse, and elopement . This new legislation will help increase the employee to patient ratio.

The new legislation is vital to improving nursing home care in Illinois. However, many nursing home directors are not in full support of the measures. They forget about the thousands of nursing home residents who have become victims of neglect and abuse. The Chicago nursing home lawyers of Levin & Perconti fully support the new nursing home legislation and applaud the Illinois legislators who support the bills. To learn more about the Illinois nursing home legislation please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation

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March 31, 2010

Illinois Advocates for Nursing Home Industry Debate Changes

Currently nursing home operators and advocates for seniors are debating the amount of change needed to fix the much troubled Illinois nursing home industry. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the nursing home industry is balking at the Nursing Home Safety Task Force and their recommendations for legislative action. The nursing home operators are objecting to the idea of raising minimum staffing levels. They also are not keen on the idea to increase fines and penalties for unsafe and poorly run facility and raising fees to help pay for these new safety implementations.

Also, some senior advocates are in opposition to the task force recommendation that separate wings or facilities become licensed so as to not mix them with vulnerable nursing home residents. They believe that the separate units do not solve the problem that is currently plaguing the mentally ill. The problems associated with the mentally ill and felons in nursing homes are what prompted the safety task force in the first place. Since then state officials, elder advocates and industry representatives are now meeting in smaller “working groups” to determine the best cause of action to solve these problems.

The task force’s report has an ambitious plan to move thousands of mentally disabled people from nursing homes into smaller residential programs. These programs will provide intensive therapy and supervision for those who require it. This appears to be one of many problems plaguing Illinois nursing homes. The AARP’s associative state director believes that many Illinois nursing homes fail to reach the minimum standards of quality of care and safety. To read more about the nursing home proposals, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Legislation, Nursing Home Study

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March 27, 2010

Elder Justice Act will Help Illinois Nursing Homes

On Tuesday President Obama singed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These pills contain the Nursing Home transparency and Improvement Act and the Elder Justice Act. They also will create a national program of criminal background checks on long-term care workers. The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care has outlined many of the wonderful aspects of this legislation that was introduced by Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky.

The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement act will ensure that there is a public disclosure of nursing home owners and will establish internal procedures by nursing homes to reduce civil and criminal violations. By adding training programs for dementia care and abuse prevention, this legislation will help reduce nursing home negligence. It will also find ways to introduce technology into nursing homes. The nursing home legislation will also require a sixty-day advance notification of facility closure and authorization to continue Medicaid payments pending relocation of all residents. This portion of the legislation will be extremely applicable to Illinois due to the many recent nursing home closures.

The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act will create a national program of criminal background checks on employees of long-term care providers. This legislation is long overdue and will help ensure that those with a felonious background will not be employed by a nursing home. Also the Elder Justice Act will help combat the growing problem of elder abuse. This act too was introduced by Representative Schakowsky. To learn more about the new nursing home legislation, please visit the NCCNHR’s homepage.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Legislation, Legislation

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March 11, 2010

Chicago and Illinois Move to Reduce Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Illinois and Chicago officials are looking towards new legislative proposals to improve nursing home safety. 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith has introduced ordinance amendments which will hopefully strengthen the current city of Chicago inspections of nursing facilities. Additionally, the nursing home legislation will increase enforcement and penalties for incidents of nursing home abuse. Under the new legislation nursing homes will be required to make the details of their financial and safety records more accessible to the public.

While this new city legislation is being debated, Governor Quinn’s office is planning to introduce legislation that will implement the recommendations of the recently formed Nursing Home Safety Task Force. This task force was formed immediately after the Chicago Tribune reported the grave conditions that take place at area Chicago nursing homes. These incidents included rapes, attacks and murders in those facilities that house the elderly with the mentally ill. The task force has recommended tightening criminal background checks on new residents, increasing nursing staffing and bolstering sanctions against facilities whom chronically breach safety regulations.

The Chicago nursing home lawyers of Levin and Perconti support the recent efforts to improve nursing home safety. We recognize that legislative action may decrease the number of incidents of nursing home abuse throughout the state of Illinois. Many other organizations are supporting the legislation such as the AARP, Illinois Citizens for Better Care and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. The crafters of the bill believe that the great amount of support they are receiving will help the nursing home bill pass through the legislative channels. To learn more about the recent proposals, read the Chicago Tribune article on Illinois nursing home legislation.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Legislation, Nursing Home Abuse

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March 9, 2010

Legislation Introduced to Reduce Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Illinois

A group of elder advocate groups brought together by the AARP joined in Springfield to announce nursing home legislation that will reform the way nursing homes operate in Illinois. Senate Bill 685 was introduced by Heather Steans and Jacqueline Collins, both Democrats from Chicago. As been highlighted recently in the media, nursing home residents in Illinois have been victims of nursing home failures. Nursing home patients have been the victims of physical, mental and sexual abuse. They have been given the wrong diagnosis or wrong medications all at the hands of nursing home employees. This bill will go way beyond what has recently been proposed in the Governor’s task force. To read more reaction about the Illinois nursing home, legislation please click the link.

The new nursing home legislation will address many problems currently plaguing residents. The group's press release states that legislation will improve the quality of care for nursing home residents and create meaningful regulations for Illinois nursing homes. These include disincentives and penalties for facilities that provide inadequate care. Also, the legislation would provide regulations that promote resident safety and a safe environment for all older people in Illinois nursing homes. One of the most important provisions is that the legislation would require higher staff to patient ratios and better training for direct-care staff. This is extremely important because many studies have found that a home's employee to resident ratio is a vital part of a safe nursing home. The Chicago nursing home lawyers of Levin & Perconti support this legislation and ask that everyone contact their Illinois representatives to voice their support as well. The Illinois AARP set up a Nursing Home Reform Legislation Hotline. We encourage you to call 1-888-616-3322 to ask your Illinois legislators to support Senate Bill 685.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation

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March 7, 2010

Illinois Nursing Homes Must Carry Insurance

The Clarion Ledger has recently posted an article discussing the needs of nursing homes to carry insurance. The article points out that many nursing homes do not carry enough liability insurance to cover damages caps if a nursing home abuse lawsuit is filed. Many nursing homes face lawsuits after physical and sexual abuse or nursing home neglect. Nursing homes should be required to carry enough insurance to cover a vulnerable person that is injured, mistreated or abused while a resident at the home.

In Mississippi, a current House Bill 536 would require non-government nursing homes to carry $500,000 in liability coverage which is equivalent to the amount that the government nursing homes must carry under the Tort Claims Act. While this out-of-state legislation may seem like an obvious need to those who believe in elderly rights, many insurance companies and nursing home lobbyists are working diligently to try to kill the bill before it reaches the Senate. Since nursing homes have received the damage caps they believe are so important, it is imperative that they carry insurance. The elderly need and deserve the accountability afforded to them with the passage of HB 536. To read more about the nursing home legislation, please check out the link.

Illinois is one of the states that does not require nursing homes to carry liability insurance. We hope that new Illinois nursing home reform legislation will require homes to operate with insurance. The Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at Levin & Perconti encourage people to ask if a nursing home carries insurance before entrusting a loved one to the facility. Researching a nursing home’s insurance information is an important step to ensuring your family members rights in the event of an injury caused by negligence.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, National Nursing Homes, How to choose a home, Legislation, Legislation

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October 20, 2009

Illinois Task Force Sets Hearing

Governor Quinn’s new Nursing Home Safety Task Force will hear testimony from elder care advocates, service providers and residents in an open, public meeting. It also announced a Web site that takes citizens’ comments and recommendations. Task Force leader Michael Gelder stated, “All of us have a role to play in ensuring the safety and well-being of nursing home residents, and we urge the public to join us in this critical work.” He added that all of Illinois will be needed to meet this challenge. The task force was formed in response to a Chicago Tribune expose which found that elderly and disabled nursing home residents were allegedly assaulted, raped and even killed by mentally ill criminals also living in the facility. Illinois relies on nursing homes to house psychiatric patients more than any other state. Hopefully the new task force will help resolve the problem and decrease the nursing home abuse. To read more about the hearing meeting, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Incidents, Legislation, Sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes

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October 10, 2009

State Officials Meet on Nursing Home Deficiencies

Top officials from seven state agencies met for nearly two hours to discuss safety breakdowns at nursing homes that accept high numbers of mentally ill criminals. They have laid out a blueprint for solving what they have described as a very serious problem in terms of nursing home abuse. The task force met in response to the Chicago Tribune’s series that detailed instances when elderly and disabled nursing home residents were allegedly assaulted, raped and even murdered by mentally ill criminals who lived in the facilities. The task force will meet at least a half dozen times over the next several months to discuss combating nursing home abuse. They are set to complete a report by January 31 with recommendations to the governor on how to better the situation. The task force is set to conduct unannounced site visits to various nursing facilities to seek public input about the best ways to assure safety for residents. Task force members are calling on better training for public health inspectors. They also suggested a thorough review of the criminal background screenings of the roughly 3,000 mentally ill offenders now living in the nursing homes. Illinois should consider licensing separate facilities for mentally ill residents with criminal backgrounds or violent histories to resolve problems created by the volatile mix of elderly and psychiatric patients. To read more about the Illinois task force, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Incidents, Legislation, Nursing Home Abuse, Sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes

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October 8, 2009

Task Force Addresses Safety in Illinois Nursing Homes

A task force is meeting for the first time to address assaults, rapes and murders in Illinois nursing homes. After Illinois has shut down state-run mental hospitals, nursing homes have had to pick up the slack. An AP analysis found Illinois ranks highest in the nation in the number of the mentally ill adults under the age of 65 living in nursing homes. The Chicago Tribune recently examined how violent felons living in nursing homes put frail elderly at risk. The governor formed the task force to bring together agencies that regulate nursing homes and screen potential residents. The advocacy group, Illinois Citizens for Better Care and Wendy Meltzer, say they have that the task force members will solve problems rather than make excuses. This could be a positive step for Illinois to improve their record of nursing home abuse. To read more about the task force, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation, Nursing Home Abuse

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August 7, 2009

Resident’s Advocates Discuss Nursing Home Legislation

The Illinois State Journal Register discussed both the pros and cons of the new nursing home legislation proposed in Illinois, Senate Bill 314. Some, like the executive director of Nursing Home Monitors, believe that the nursing home legislation would weaken an already lax regulatory system by allowing the state to forgive certain fines against nursing homes that promise to use the money for correcting deficiencies. Others, like Wendy Meltzer, the director of Chicago-based Citizens for Better Care, believe that the bill would make it harder for nursing homes to negotiate a reduction in fines. This is due to the work of Meltzer to insert language that made reductions of fines off limits if those fines were connected with harm to residents. The nursing home industry agreed with the changes to the original nursing home legislation because the state was focusing too much on high fines against nursing homes and not enough on helping facilities provide good care. Currently, the bill is awaiting Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s signature. To read more about the nursing home legislation, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation, Ombudsmen Program

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May 20, 2009

Nursing Homes May Need Fines to Get their Attention

When a nursing home resident’s minor injury is left untreated and thus progresses to something major that will inevitably kill her, the nursing home should be fined. This is equally true when one resident beats another in a nursing home cafeteria because there’s no staff member there to stop it. These are all problems that lead to nursing home negligence and wrongful death. The only way for a nursing home to be punished is to be fined, but an Illinois ruling ties the hands of the Department of Public Health on how much can be fined. Currently Illinois caps the violations at $10,000 a pop. The solution to this problem is simple, have the legislature permit higher fines for egregious elderly abuse and negligence. Illinois must allow for higher fines in order to remedy these ongoing problems. To read more about Illinois fines, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation

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May 14, 2009

State’s Decision Supports Lower Fines in Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases

An Illinois judge handed down a ruling that said the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) illegally increased fines against nursing homes. The IDPH may no longer fine a nursing home more than $10,000. This comes as a blow to many nursing home advocates who fear that lowering fines will cause an increase in poor quality care. With smaller fines, Illinois nursing homes will have less incentive to provide quality care. Larger fines motivate nursing homes to avoid punishment by delivering appropriate care to their residents. It is most likely that the IDPH will appeal this decision. According to the IDPH acting director, “We have been fining what we feel is appropriate for what we find." To read the full story about this devastating ruling about Illinois nursing homes, follow the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation, Ombudsman and Resident Advocates News, Ombudsmen Program

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March 9, 2009

Nursing Home Resident’s Advocates Vow to Stop Illinois Bill

Advocates for nursing home residents hope that they will be able to stop the progress of a bill in the Illinois General Assembly which is designed to allow state regulators to refund fines paid by nursing homes planning to use the money to improve care. The bill, Senate Bill 321, would return money after a nursing home may have been cited for elderly abuse or neglect. Director of Chicago-based Illinois Citizens for Better Care, Wendy Meltzer, stated that this bill would be really bad public policy because it essentially eliminates the financial disincentive for bad behavior. Although the bill’s sponsor believes that the bill is a way of ensuring that problems at nursing homes get fixed, money could be returned even in the cases of elderly rape or wrongful death. The bill highlights the idea that Illinois has become too focused on fines against nursing homes instead of good care. Meltzer pointed out that nursing homes shouldn’t need refunds as an incentive to provide the kind of care that is required by Illinois state law. Last year the bill’s sponsor received $15,000 in campaign contributions from the nursing home industry. To read more about Senate Bill 321, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Legislation

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The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

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