Illinois Scores ‘F’, Ranks 42nd in Nursing Home Care

In the News,Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect,Personal Injury - September 5, 2013 by Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates

Illinois ranks near the bottom in nursing home quality of care, reports Families for Better Care, a Florida-based nursing home resident advocacy group.
The group published the nation’s first-ever state-by-state nursing home report card by analyzing eight federal measures to gauge nursing home quality.  Illinois’s nursing home care was so bad that the state managed only one passing grade.  Illinois is one of two states with the nation’s lowest average of direct care staffing hours.

Other poor grades related to the percentage of facilities with deficiencies and the percentage of facilities with severe deficiencies, scoring failing grades in each and ranking 41st and 44th respectively.
“Illinois represents what’s terribly wrong with nursing home care and oversight in America,” said Brian Lee, the group’s executive director.  “State officials and industry representatives should be ashamed of their abysmal nursing home record.”
According to the report card, 96 percent of Illinois’s nursing homes were cited one or more deficiencies.  Worst yet, 1 in 4 nursing home were cited a severe deficiency, indicating widespread abuse, neglect and mistreatment.
“Abysmal staffing levels contribute to the enormity of nursing home neglect,” said Lee.  “Residents are unable to be cared for properly when they receive fewer than 2 hours and 10 minutes of direct care daily.”
“Governor Quinn and the Illinois Legislature must do a better job caring for elderly and disabled nursing home residents,” said Lee.  “They can start by mandating a higher staffing standard.”
Horwitz Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect attorneys state, “These grades are simply appalling. Combined with the fact that many nursing home operators are now trying to sneak into nursing home admission agreements, Arbitration clauses, which when signed acts as a waiver against the resident or family member from filing a lawsuit in Court against the nursing home if they abuse or neglect a resident, our State Legislators should be ashamed that they continue to allow nursing home owners to reap millions of dollars for such horrific and dangerous care. To put these grades into a more direct perspective, imagine if these grades were on your child’s report card. Would you be happy? Would you praise your child? Would you be satisfied that your child earned a 1.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale? Doubtful. Why should we be satisfied with these grades? Why doesn’t the press report these issues? Look closely, 96% of all Illinois Nursing Homes have been cited for failing to follow all Sate and/or Federal Regulations. Would you keep going to see the same physician if he/she incorrectly diagnosed you 96% of the time? Would you give the keys to your car to your teenager if they had an accident 96% of the time they used your car? Doubtful. This statistics are not abnormal, rather they are reflective of the sad and at times tragic treatment our elderly receive inside nursing homes.
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