Stop Illinois Nursing Home Violence: Concerns Voiced At Task Force’s Public Hearing in Chicago
This week, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force presided over a public hearing in Chicago where residents, advocates, and social workers demanded that the state stop housing younger, mentally ill adults in nursing homes—especially those who have felony rap sheets or a history of violence.
What has happened as a result of the state’s decade’s long practice of placing these felons with disabled, weak, or frail elderly residents is that the elderly and the sick are becoming the victims of physical assault, sexual assault, and murder.
The Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday’s hearing:
• One advocate with the Community Counseling Centers, Jamie Jimenez, voiced the concern that nursing homes shouldn’t be used as place for attempting to rehabilitate violent offenders.
• Mental Health America of Illinois board member Mark Heyman pointed out that psychiatric patients are not even getting the proper care at many of these assisted living facilities.
• Regional state ombudsman Nancy Flowers says that police aren’t always told about nursing home crimes and state inspectors and police don’t always share information they may have about an assisted living facility with each other.
Currently, some 15,000 people diagnosed with mental illnesses are living in Illinois nursing homes.
While all prospective nursing home residents must undergo a criminal background check so that the risk they pose to other patients can be evaluated, the Chicago Tribune discovered that in many cases, these screenings weren’t completed until well after the resident had been living in the assisted living facility. Also, the background checks did not uncover all arrests and convictions.
Governor Quinn formed the Nursing Home Safety Task Force so that action can finally be taken to protect elderly and disabled patients from becoming the targets of Illinois nursing home violence committed by other residents. The team is made up of senior leaders from the Department of Corrections, Department of Public Health, Department on Aging, Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Human Services, Illinois State Police, and Illinois Housing Development Authority.
Whether you were abused or assaulted by a nursing home worker or another resident, the Illinois assisted living facility can still be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death. Our Chicago nursing home negligence law firm is committed to upholding our clients' rights and helping them obtain compensation for any harm suffered.
Nursing home safety: Task force hears, voices concern about housing mentally ill felons in facilities, Chicago Tribune, October 21, 2009
Nursing Home Safety Task Force to Hear Public Testimony
Launches Interactive Website, Ilinois.gov, October 17, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force, Illinois.gov
Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov
Contact our Chicago nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers for your free case evaluation.
