Illinois Works to Improve Nursing Home Regulations After Repeated Complaints
State officials in Illinois are currently discussing regulations that would increase fines on facilities with repeated neglect complaints from residents at nursing homes. A panel consisting of state officials created by Governor Pat Quinn is considering legislation that would be instated in March and would increase the amount in fines a facility would receive if a facility’s employees interfere in an investigation of the facility. In addition, this legislation would limit the number of admissions a facility could allow until the facility fixes any known violations.
Quinn is also considering legislation that would create a new penalty for facilities that are found to have contributed to a resident’s death. This is all done in an attempt to develop safeguards for the elderly to prevent them from becoming victims of elder abuse or neglect.
Instating this type of legislation to hand out larger fines for penalties and limiting admissions to facilities with previous penalties could provide an incentive to facilities to maintain a good record. In addition, residents of these facilities would know that they are receiving the highest level of care possible at the same time. It would also prevent facilities from hiding potential neglect or abuse cases from authorities because they would receive a much larger fine for doing so. This legislation would benefit the elderly to a large extent because it could potentially reduce the number of cases that go unreported by facility owners or managers, in turn reducing the number of residents that suffer from serious injuries as a result of neglect or abuse.
