Two Chicago Nursing Homes Receive 5-Star Ratings Despite Fire Deficiencies
A number of nursing home experts have expressed dismay that the federal government has chosen to give five-star ratings to two Illinois nursing homes even though both assisted living facilities exhibited fire deficiencies. As Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board member Tom Lia noted, Illinois nursing home must have fire protections—especially as sick or elderly residents may need help escaping from a premise when a fire breaks out.
The Grove at Lincoln Park received five stars under Medicare and Medicaid’s Nursing Home Compare rating system last year. Yet also in 2008, inspectors found seven fire-related violations. One of these violations involved sprinklers that were improperly maintained and not in working order. The Arbour Health Care Center, another Chicago nursing home that received a 5-star rating last year, also had four fire deficiencies.
The federal government’s Nursing Home Compare ratings are supposed to give prospective nursing home residents and their families a system that they can use to evaluate and compare different nursing homes to best determine which facility would be the best fit for an elderly or sick patient. Assisted living facilities that receive five-star ratings are considered above average, while nursing homes that get just one-star are considered way below average in comparison to other facilities in the area.
The Medicare Web site says that the rating system takes into account nursing home staffing, health inspections, quality measures, and fire safety standards when choosing how to rank each nursing home. Medicare’s Ellen Greif, however, says that life safety code, which includes fire code violations, is not part of the ratings calculation. This is unfortunate, considering that many families look to the federal rating system as an accurate source of information about the quality of care and the kind of living situation that a prospective resident will likely encounter at the facility.
Fires can break out at Illinois nursing homes. Just last year, Igor Shteyn, 67, died in a fire at the Hampton Plaza Health Care Centre. His children sued the Niles nursing home for Illinois nursing negligence and wrongful death. They claimed that the nursing home workers were not properly trained in dealing with the fire. Shteyn's roommate, 76-year-old Naum Berdichevsky, also died.
The absence of properly working fire sprinklers in a building can pose a fire hazard that can be grounds for a nursing home negligence claim, a products liability complaint, or a wrongful death lawsuit if a patient or a visitor gets hurt or dies in a fire. Congress even passed the “The Nursing Home Fire Safety Act,” which requires that all nursing home facilities that are part of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs have automatic fire sprinkler systems.
Five-Star Farce?, MyFox Chicago, June 30, 2009
Officials investigate Niles nursing home fire, ABClocalgo.com, May 15, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov
Chicago nursing home negligence lawyer Steve Malman would like to talk to you about your Illinois personal injury case.
