Illinois Nursing Home Safety Task Force Given the Job of Curbing Patient Violence in Assisted Living Facilities
Members of the Nursing Home Safety Task Force met yesterday to begin the process of figuring out how to better regulate nursing homes so that residents do not become the victims of violent crimes committed by other residents who are mentally ill and/or who have violent criminal pasts. Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn announced he was forming the task force following an investigation by the Chicago Tribune that exposed breaches in screening and regulation that allowed mentally ill patients with violent streaks to be housed next to elderly or very frail residents.
Michael Gelder, who used to be a deputy director for the Illinois Department on Aging and is now Quinn’s health policy senior advisor, is heading the task force, which consists of high-level officials from several Illinois agencies: the departments of aging; health care and family services, public health, corrections, state police, and human services. The Task force members have promised to make their recommendations by the end of January.
On Wednesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for unannounced nursing home inspections and better criminal background checks. A series of articles in the Chicago Tribune reported that the current process frequently fails to track all serious felony crimes. This has resulted in other residents becoming the victims of nursing home crimes, including physical assault crimes sexual assault crimes, and murders.
Madigan’s call came in the form of a letter to the Illinois Department of Public Health director, Dr. Damon Arnold. She said that the department should work with Illinois Police to generate revised criminal histories for every offender residing in an Illinois nursing home.
While mentally ill patients definitely are entitled to receive the nursing care that they need, this does not mean that the safety and well-being of elderly and frail resident should be compromised. If an Illinois nursing home agrees to take in mentally ill residents who happen to have criminal records or a tendency to commit violent acts, the facility is responsible for protecting the other residents.
Whether your loved one was the victim of nursing home abuse inflicted by a nursing home worker or another patient, violence of any kind is against the law and may be grounds for an Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit against the assisted living facility where the incident occurred.
Our Chicago nursing negligence law firm is committed to holding all parties liable for the harm that our clients have suffered.
Madigan Calls for Crackdowns on Nursing Homes, SJ-R.com, October 8, 2009
Nursing home safety: Gov. Pat Quinn forms task force, Chicago Tribune, October 2, 2009
Task force targets violence in Ill. nursing homes, AP/Google, October 8, 2009
Related Web Resource:
Nursing Home Safety, Chicago Tribune
