Illinois Recieves $110 Million in Federal Funding to Prevent Nursing Home Abuse
On Tuesday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced the creation of a $110 million federal fund to prevent nursing home abuse. The money will come from a tax on nursing homes and be used to help homes meet new state requirements that were passed last year in response to a string of nursing home abuse incidents.
Governor Quinn formed a task force to investigate nursing home abuse in 2009 after a string of high-profile incidents and investigations by local newspapers. In response, last year the state legislature passed a bill requiring increased staffing and safety provisions, as well as revisions to the screening process for nursing homes to protect residents from other residents with a history of violence.
The $110 million fund will be created by a tax on nursing homes and federal Medicaid matching funds. The money will help nursing homes hire additional staff and bring their safety regulations in line with the new state standards.
I've been witnessing nursing home abuse and neglect for many years. California has a grading system for nursing homes from one to five stars. These grades should be posted where they're most likely to be seen. Instead I have repeatdly discovered they are posted in areas where they're least likely to be seen.
In one nursing home there is a framed notice with five stars saying the nursing home offers five star luxury according to the nursing home administrator. This nursing home actually has two out of five stars and the real rating certificate is high above the other notices where people are unlikely to see it. Another nursing home has its two star rating in an out-of-the way corner of the activity room where potential residents and their families are unlikely to see it.
Such scams should be stopped and nursing homes should be fined for "hiding" their real low ratings.
Years ago my mother almost died as a result of extreme neglect in a nursing where a bed sore on her hip almost extended to her bone. It was only when I called her former doctor and he examined her that she was rushed to the hospital.