A Chicago Tribune investigative report has been succesful in exposing a lack of compliance to Illinois laws for admitting and caring for nursing home residents. Criminal background checks and risk assessments were not being conducted on new residents, allowing for mentally ill patients and convicted felons to become rent-free residents of Medicaid nursing homes and placing senior residents at risk.
Seniors who do not have personal assets and a monthly income to pay for nursing home costs can qualify for ongoing care in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid, a state and federally funded program. Owning a Medicaid nursing home can be compared to owning an apartment complex which is always rented - as long as you can admit qualifying patients, the government will pay the rent each month.
One nursing home housed 18 felons and drew attention after 17 assualts and 2 incidents of sexual violence were reported.
Somerset Place in Chicago housed more than 300 residents and the federal government has pulled the plug on their Medicaid payments. However, it took good reporting to make this happen - another indicator that the state nursing home inspection reports do not provide all the answers for maintaining quality nursing homes. Felons belong in prisons, not nursing homes.
Full Article and Source:
Illinois Revokes Nursing Home's License
4 comments:
Absolutely, felons belong in prisons; not nursing homes!
And the state had better get happening - dump the incompetent employees!
Seems like everywhere you look there is elderly abuse going on and more often than not, it's about the money.
If more nursing homes lost their licenses for care issues, they'd clean up their act.
I'm glad to see this.
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