Elder Law

Nursing Home Reform Bill sent to Illinois Governor

By Levin & Perconti

The Illinois Senate has given an overwhelming amount of support to Illinois nursing home legislation that will overhaul the standards for care and safety in Illinois troubled nursing homes. This new legislation was written after a Chicago Tribune investigation that revealed a great number of attacks, rapes and murders in nursing homes that mixed elderly residents with convicted felons.

The Illinois nursing home bill was approved by the Senate with a vote of 46-8. It will require nursing homes to increase staffing levels. Many studies have shown that those nursing homes with a higher resident to staff member ratio tend to have a lower rate of nursing home abuse. The nursing home legislation will also ensure that those residents in nursing homes will have a higher standard to meet upon admittance if they have a serious mental illness. Illinois has the highest number of mentally ill residents living amongst elderly residents of all the states. Finally the nursing home legislation will segregate the most dangerous residents in secure units where intensive monitoring and treatment will be ushered by employees. This will help decrease the amount of attacks that occur between mentally ill residents and the general population.

State senator Heather Steans of Chicago stated that this was long overdue legislation in Illinois. The legislation reflects some of the 38 recommendations given by Governor Quinn?s Nursing Home Safety Task Force. The Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti applaud the efforts of the Illinois Senate to decrease nursing home abuse. To read more about the nursing home legislation, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on May 10, 2010 (boomark / email).