Illinois Nursing Homes Receive a Failing Grade

Friday, September 13, 2013

Illinois Nursing Homes Receive a Failing Grade

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

Illinois government is aware of the neglect that many nursing homes impose on their residents. In regards to this neglect, the Nursing Home Reform Act was signed on July 29^th 2010 by Gov. Pat Quinn. This act was created to implement new restrictions on nursing homes that serve mentally ill and certain residents who have criminal backgrounds. It also required a tighter ratio to fill the gaps between staff and residents, new certification requirements and additional fees to nursing homes who failed to meet state and federal requirements. However, according to a recent report by CBS Chicago, Illinois nursing homes are still receiving failing grades. Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys do not tolerate facilities who fail to meet requirements and fight for their clients who have been victims of this neglect.

According to the non-profit, Families for Better Care, 11 states received failing grades, one of these being Illinois. You may be asking why? One of the biggest reasons of neglect is due to staffing. There are still a numerous amount of understaffed nursing homes that are treating residents. Elderly care requires a large amount of direct staffing because it is one of the most extensive forms of care in the medical field. It requires an overall psychiatric, nutritional, and physical form of care. Although all medical practices require attention to these areas, the elderly is the most prone to having serious problems within each area. For example, a resident who develops bedsores has probably been neglected of their nutritional needs as well or a resident who has dementia may additionally suffer from other chronic illnesses such as depression. Elderly persons are fragile at their end-of-life stages and run into very serious health compromising conditions that ultimately require direct attention from staff members. Nursing home attorneys assist residents who have been wronged by neglectful caregivers.

Executive Director Brian Lee of Families for Better Care reported to CBS news that his organization reviewed federal data from three groups and much of what they found was neglect caused by the number of employees working in nursing homes. 

Lee made the statement to CBS, “The staffing in Illinois nursing homes is near abysmal. They practically have skeleton crews working in nursing homes.”

The website, Nursinghomereportcards.com, reported in their finding that Illinois and Nevada have less than 2 hours and 8 minutes per day of direct care staffing to their residents. These findings show that Illinois nursing homes do not have adequate staffing to safely and efficiently care for residents, which makes nursing home abuse attorneys a necessity today.

Despite these findings, there are still good standing nursing homes in Illinois. To learn how to choose the best nursing home for you and your loved one, visit our blog post, How to Find the Right Nursing Home .

If you or a loved one suffered a wrongful death, injury, or any other form of abuse from a nursing home, you may be entitled to legal compensation. A nursing home abuse attorney knows the laws pertaining to the standard of care and can represent your case to help your family to recover from lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering caused by neglect. If you believe you or a loved one may have suffered neglect or abuse from a nursing home, call Malman Law today for free consultation to review your case.