Battling Illinois Nursing Home Negligence: Governor Pat Quinn Proposes Raising Minimum Staffing Levels
In an effort to improve the quality of nursing care provided at assisted living facilities while decreasing the number of incidents of Illinois nursing home abuse, neglect, and patient violence, Governor Pat Quinn is proposing reforms that would increase the minimum staffing levels at nursing homes throughout the state.
Under current Illinois rules, assisted living facilities are required to give each resident at least 2 ½ hours of nursing care a day. This can be provided if there are about 31 licensed nurses and certified nursing aides for every 100 residents. Now, Governor Quinn wants each patient to receive more personalized nursing care.
Under his proposal, by 2014 each assisted living facility patient that needs skilled attention would get 4.1 hours of nursing care a day, while residents that require intermediate care would receive 2.8 hours of nursing care daily.
Considering that a number of national studies have found that improved care has been linked to giving patients more hours of nursing care, the Governor’s proposal is an interesting one. However, although many Illinois nursing homes are already meeting this higher standard, there are facilities, such as those that rely on Medicaid to survive, that do not have the money to hire more people.
According to the Chicago Reporter, Illinois for-profit nursing homes have the lowest average staffing levels compared to their counterparts in other US states. On the other hand, Illinois nonprofit nursing homes exceed the national average when it comes to the number of hours of nursing care that each patient receives.
Governor Quinn also wants to strengthen oversight while raising the fines and fees that would be imposed on Illinois assisted living facilities for nursing home violations.
Illinois Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
While new regulations geared at providing better patient care is a positive step forward in the fight to prevent nursing home negligence, assisted living facilities are still responsible for making sure that patients are not harmed or neglected by nursing home workers. If you believe that nursing home negligence allowed your loved ones injuries, deteriorating condition, or death to occur, please contact our Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse law firm today.
Ill. nursing home reformers push for more staffing, PJStar.com, April 20, 2010
Governor: Nursing home staff levels too low, Northwest Herald, April 20, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force, Illinois.gov
Illinois Department of Public Health
