The Chicago Tribune reports a disturbing statistic for those who have loved ones in state nursing home facilities: More than any other state, Illinois relies on nursing homes to house mentally ill patients, including those who have committed crimes. (Jackson & Marx.)
Mentally ill patients now constitute over 15 percent of the state’s total nursing home population of 92,225. Moreover, the number of residents who have committed serious felonies has risen to 3,000 (ibid.) Among that number are 82 convicted murderers, 179 sex offenders and 185 armed robbers.
The mix of frail and vulnerable seniors with dangerous felons creates a recipe for disaster. Many Illinois seniors have been raped, assaulted and even murdered in state facilities. From March 2008-September 2009, the Tribune reports 511 cases of battery or assault, 27 cases of criminal sexual assault and 24 narcotics violations in Chicago nursing homes (ibid.)
The Tribune also reports a number of grisly murders that have taken place inside nursing homes, including a gang member who slit the throat an elderly man, and a deranged man who beat his elderly roommate to death with an alarm clock (Jackson & Marx.)
Earlier this year the Chicago Tribune reported that 86 sex attack allegations have been brought in Illinois, but that only one arrest had been made. Even when arrests are made, nursing home patients have a harder time bringing prosecution because many suffer from dementia and other cognitive errors that cast doubt on their testimony.
With so vulnerable a population sharing facilities with one so violent, surely the state would step in and provide a strong protective buffer, right?
Wrong.
The Tribune investigation found that the state’s background checks are rife with errors, omissions and understatements of felon’s crimes. It also found that the homes with most felons are often those with the lowest nursing staffs. Even worse, state authorities do not track assaults or other crimes in nursing homes, and thus have no data from which to discern patterns and address problems caused by violent inmates.
Nursing home officials claim that the reports of crime pale in comparison to the good the facilities provide. They say that they provide a valuable public service, and that without these facilities there would be absolutely nowhere for the patients to go. And to some extent, they are right.
“Many of these patients were not appropriate for placement in a nursing home—yet Illinois didn’t have an alternative place for them,” said David Grabowski, a Harvard Medical School professor who studies nursing home populations. “Illinois is really unique in its blurring of long-term care and mental health resources.”
The Tribune reporters, Jackson and Marx, point to coinciding factors that led to felons and seniors sharing bunks. Although the elderly population is growing, those who can afford in-home care or assisted living are choosing to do so. Thus, Illinois nursing home population has dropped 11 percent in the last decade. Meanwhile, a drive to “deinstitutionalize” the mentally ill has led to patients being let out of state asylums and moved into the emptying nursing homes.
By law, anyone with a disability can live in the state facilities, regardless of age. Many of those who end up in Illinois nursing facilities are referred there from hospitals, mental health centers, homeless shelters and probation departments. The result is a nursing home population that trumps other states in felony offenders (ibid.)
However, the felony offenders are not distributed evenly among Illinois homes. In fact, over half of the 3000 felons are in about five percent of the homes. Many of those homes are clustered in Uptown and South Side Chicago.
Tribune surveys have found that those homes with the highest populations of felons often have the lowest number of staff. Moreover, Illinois’ Medicaid program allots $117 per day for patient care: a low rate that translates into high turnover among nurses and staff. Many experts say that Illinois is doing a disservice to those patients with mental illnesses because the facilities become more like “holding bins” than treatment centers. Because mentally ill patients are not getting the help they need, they are more likely to commit violent crimes inside and outside of state facilities.
State public health officials have urged the lawmakers to adopt new measures requiring separate licensing and regulatory processes for state facilities serving psychiatric patients. And the Health Care Council of Illinois, the state’s largest nursing home owner’s association, advocates specialized health treatment for high-risk patients with felony convictions. However, a crumbling state budget will make implementing new programs difficult.
In the meantime, facilities will have to make due with what they have. Families are encouraged to investigate the living situations of loved ones in state facilities to ensure their safety. They are also encouraged to take all reports of abuse seriously.
If a you or a loved one has been hurt in a nursing home, please contact the lawyers at Dolan Legal for your free consultation.
–Steven Flores
Attributed Source
David Jackson and Gray Marx. “Illinois nursing homes mix felons, seniors.” Chicago Tribune. Sept. 29, 2009.
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