Chicago Nursing Home Negligence?: State Senate’s Public Health Committee Examines Allegations of Racial Inequality in Assisted Living Facilities
On Thursday, the Illinois Senate’s public health committee met to talk about allegations of racial disparities that may be impacting the quality and care received by minority patients at nursing homes. The accusations stem from an investigation conducted by the Chicago Reporter magazine, which discovered inequalities between nursing homes where residents were predominantly white and assisted living facilities that housed primarily black patients.
The allegations are disturbing, considering that, per the Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Home Compare Web site, the state of Illinois has more poorly rated black nursing homes than the other US states. Nearly 60% of the 30 black Chicago nursing homes received the lowest rating for quality possible, compared to 11% of Chicago’s 45 predominantly white assisted living facilities. None of the black nursing homes received the highest rating, while 30% of white assisted living facilities did.
Our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers are concerned about any reports that a Cook County nursing home may be depriving patients of the care that they need and should be getting. Negligent nursing care can be grounds for a Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse lawsuit.
Also, the Chicago Reporter said that black assisted living facilities were cited for more violations than white nursing homes. The magazine also found that nursing home workers at black nursing homes were not as well trained as the employees at white nursing homes. White assisted living facilities were less likely than black nursing homes to admit sex offenders and ex-offenders as patients.
The latter issue has been a huge concern of late, especially following the recent findings published by the Chicago Tribune from its investigation into patient violence. The fact that patients are subject to Chicago nursing home abuse not just from nursing home workers but also from residents who are mentally ill and/or who may have violent criminal pasts is a very serious sign that not enough is being done to protect patients from nursing home abuse or neglect.
This week, the Nursing Home Safety Task Force, formed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, will hear from patient advocates, service providers, nursing home residents, and families. The task force was formed to deal with concerns about resident care and safety.
Our Chicago nursing home abuse and neglect law firm represents clients who are the victims of nursing home negligence.
Nursing home safety task force to hold public meeting, SJ-R.com, October 25, 2009
State senators hear of nursing home bias, Chicago Breaking News, October 22, 2009
Disparate Nursing Home Care, Chicago Reporter
Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force, Illinois.gov
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov
