State Rep. Kelly Cassidy proposes Illinois nursing home reforms

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy proposes Illinois nursing home reforms

By David Ormsby, Springfield Political Buzz Examiner

..(Chicago, IL) – On Thursday, Illinois nursing home reform advocates and an Illinois House lawmaker heaped both scorching rhetoric and proposed legislative reforms on the Illinois nursing home industry. at a press conference on Chicago’s north side.

“Illinois has about the worst nursing home record in the country,” said Emily Byrd with the Jane Adams Caucus.

To illustrate Byrd’s point, a registered nurse assistant who works in a Chicago-area nursing home, Joan Stanley, riveted the press conference attendees with her description of a patient tragedy that struck in August 2011.

“One of my wheel-bound patients caught fire,” said Stanley, whose voice cracked retelling her story. “He had been smoking. We frantically tried to put out the flames, but the nursing home had no fire blankets. He burned to death.”

Stanley said, “These nursing home owners have to take some responsibility.”

Advertisement Nursing home owner responsibility coursed through a legislative proposal, House Bill 5668, outlined by State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) at the Heartland Alliance Hollywood House assisted living center located at 5700 N. Sheridan Road.

“As more residents are aging, nursing homes are a vital part of the care that seniors receive and their families rely on, and it is totally unacceptable that they have responded to our trust with not only incompetence, but life-threatening disregard for basic safety,” said Cassidy.

“… [I]n my opinion, it will take nothing less than a complete overhaul of care standards and enforcement measures to restore trust in these institutions.”

Cassidy, a first-term lawmaker, released new data that revealed that this year 35% of Chicago nursing home facilities fall below required staffing levels based on estimated care need. Next year, that number jumps to 49%, according to Cassidy’s report.

“Unless nursing homes suddenly exhibit a commitment to comply with a law that many of them have ducked so far, almost half of Chicago’s nursing home residents, and a quarter of residents statewide, will live in illegally understaffed facilities next year,” Cassidy estimated.

Cassidy said that 18 months after Illinois adopted a landmark nursing home reform law requiring increased staffing levels at facilities the law is largely being ignored and unenforced, citing the absence of rules to be implemented by the Illinois Department of Public Health to implement the law.

Illinois AARP Legislative Liaison Dave Vinkler said that the nursing home staffing shortfall triggers not only safety tragedies, but also undermine the daily “care” and “dignity” of residents, such as “daily bathing,” such elemental care that can be sacrificed due to staff shortages.

“New legislation is needed to usher in a litany of reforms to strengthen standards for the quality of care nursing home residents receive, while subjecting the facilities to a new culture of accountability,” said Cassidy.

The legislation’s key elements inlcude:
Require mandatory and immediate reporting to the state public health department resident abuse, neglect, and death, even if the resident dies elsewhere. The reports would include, for example, disclosure of medication errors and such information would be reported to next of kin or a legal guardian.

Task the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program to represent all long-term care facility residents, not only the elderly, and increase staffing ratios from one-ombudsman for every 3,500 approved beds by June 1, 2013 to 2,000 beds by June 1, 2014.

Require all nursing facilities to maintain liability insurance against resident abuse risk totaling at least $1 million per incident.

Mandate nursing facility changes of ownership to require a Certificate of Need. The permit will require a nursing facility with recent, serious violations to detail how the facility under changed corporate ownership will remain in compliance.

The certificate of need provision is key for Cassidy.

“Nursing home owners would no longer be able to hide behind shell company, behind shell company, behind shell company,” she said.

Questioned by a reporter if she expects push-back from the nursing home industry, Cassidy said she does and added, “I don’t shrink from a fight.”

Cassidy’s plan is co-sponsored by State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago).

.Suggested by the author:Nursing homes used to care for mental health consumers.

Kelly Cassidy
February 18, 2012

David Ormsby

Springfield Political Buzz Examiner


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