Two Arrested During Peoria Nursing Home Check

Two people were arrested on outstanding warrants as part of a statewide check to see if nursing homes are complying with state regulations.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Sharon Health Care Willows, 3520 N. Rochelle Lane, appeared to be largely in compliance, but her team of local and state authorities did find five people who had warrants. Two of them were Frank Risavy, 54, who was wanted on a misdemeanor assault charge, and Melinda Wiegand, 52, who was wanted on a charge of retail theft, also a misdemeanor.

"When we are in the position of putting our grandparents into a nursing home, we want to know they will be safe," Madigan said at a news conference in Peoria after the early morning check at the nursing home.

She said people must thoroughly check out a nursing home: "Do their research" before moving a loved one there by meeting with the staff, touring the facility and go online to see if there are any reports about the nursing home.

Three others found to have warrants weren't arrested either because of bad health or because their warrants were issued in a county that was too far away for them to be taken there. The charges against those people weren't known.

Nursing homes, Madigan said, are required to get background check on their residents as well as their staff members, but warrants often don't show up on such a check or a person could pick up a warrant after moving in. That wasn't case in Peoria, as the two people arrested were picked up on warrants from 2008 and 2007, respectively. Statewide, 19 people, including the two in Peoria, were arrested.

Full Article and Source:
Two Arrested During Peoria Nursing Home Check