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.”
Nursing home owner responsibility coursed through a legislative proposal, House Bill 5668, outlined by State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago).
“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.
Full Article and Source:
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy Proposes Illinois Nursing Home Reforms
2 comments:
Good for you, Rep. Cassidy!
More info on this tragic story at a Cook County Nursing Home:
Lake Shore Healthcare & Rehab Center.
7200 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago IL,
223 residents lived at this facility*
34 were diagnosed with a mental illness*
79 were under 65 years of age*
8 were felons**
1 was a registered sex offender**
Ownership info on this nursing home may be found at :
http://www.idph.state.il.us/webapp/LTCApp/Holding_Company.jsp?facilityid=6005177
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