Illinois Nursing Home Faces Decertification Due to Numerous Violations
Published: February 17th, 2010 • No Comments
Federal investigators are stripping an Illinois nursing home of its Medicare and Medicaid certifications, dooming it to almost certainly close its doors, after inspections repeatedly found incidents of nursing home neglect and poor care.
Fox River Pavilion in Aurora, Illinois, will lose its certification from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid on March 11, unless owners are successful in appealing the decision. Federal investigators made the decision after health officials repeatedly found “serious problems” at the facility. As recently as December, state inspectors were called out to investigate the nursing home after 57-year-old Randall Moons died from a heart attack after an altercation with his roommate, according to the Beacon-News.
State officials say that part of the problem is that the facility houses the elderly alongside mentally unstable residents with criminal histories of violence and sexual abuse. Investigators say that Fox River Pavilion staff did nothing to address issues with violent residents in care plans and made no attempt to provide special monitoring of their activities. They also said that low staffing levels contribute to the frequent violations. Family members say that the residents are allowed to wander into and out of any room they wish, altercations are frequent, and residents fear having personal possessions stolen.
Administrators at the 121-bed facility say they will fight the decertification, and are awaiting the results of an inspection performed this month. If the facility is decertified, it will no longer receive medicare reimbursements, meaning residents would have to pay out-of-pocket to stay there. State officials have said they will help residents relocate.
The state’s concerns highlight ongoing reports in Chicago media about deplorable conditions at many of the state’s nursing homes, partly due to the state’s practice of housing mentally ill criminals in the same facilities as the elderly.
