Illinois Nursing Home Abuse: Residents Must Be Protected from Each Other

Jonesboro, ILWhen it comes to Illinois nursing home abuse, residents of nursing homes must be protected from other residents as well as from staff and visitors to Illinois nursing homes. It is the Illinois nursing home's responsibility to ensure that residents of nursing homes in Illinois do not harm each other.

One Illinois nursing home will lose its license and be shut down for failure to protect residents from violent attacks. According to WSIL News (11/15/10), the Department of Public Health found numerous instances in which staff at the facility did not protect residents at the nursing home from attacks made by another resident.

Specifically, an 18-year-old resident with profound mental retardation allegedly attacked and injured other residents of the Illinois nursing home. One of the young man's victims was a blind 62-year-old resident who was treated for head wounds after the attack. Some of the victims required hospitalization for their injuries.

An official with the Illinois Department of Public Health said that the Orchard Court Nursing Home, which housed 15 residents, was found during an inspection to have serious violations. As a result of an investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Orchard Court will lose its license, close within 90 days and pay a $12,000 fine.

The facility admits no wrongdoing but is not appealing the citation. Orchard Court said the home was trying to care for residents who were turned away from other state-run facilities and said lack of funding was a problem. Residents of the nursing home will be sent to other nursing homes to live.

Meanwhile, an Illinois nursing home, Bowes Retirement Center, has closed and its owners will likely receive an injunction preventing them from running another unlicensed nursing home. The nursing home, located east of Chicago, was shut down in September due to a mortgage foreclosure and a motion for injunction that the state filed. The injunction alleged Bowes' owners ran an unlicensed nursing home, putting its residents at risk.

According to The Courier-News (11/05/10), problems at the home allegedly included unsanitary conditions and reports of abuse and neglect. Furthermore, the owners are accused of housing residents that required assistance bathing and eating, even though those services can only be provided by a properly licensed nursing facility.

The injunction does not prevent residents or their families from filing their own claims against the owners of the nursing home, should such actions be warranted.