Some of the worst nursing homes in Illinois

In 2015, Ellen Paule, 79, of Belleville was admitted to St. Paul’s Nursing Home in Belleville. Within two months, a wound on her heel deteriorated to the point that live larvae and maggots were found crawling inside it.

Paule was hospitalized on June 28 with “a wound infection and maggot infestation,” according to reports from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Another resident reported that the dressing on Paule’s leg ulcer would at times go two or three days without being changed.

CMS blamed the nursing home staff for the neglect of Paule and issued the home a severe violation.

Paule died two years later in April 2017. Efforts to reach her family for comment were unsuccessful. ...

Whatever the cause, state and federal data shows metro-east nursing homes are facing a problem with violations issued on the state and federal level.

-- Six residents died due to improper care in metro-east nursing homes from 2015-17, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Two more residents were sent into permanent comas because of nursing home errors, the department said.

-- Thirteen out of St. Clair County's 18 nursing homes score "below average" in overall care, including Midwest Rehab, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Four of those have a rating of 'much below average.'

-- In the past three inspection cycles, five of Belleville's nursing homes have received a total of 260 federal violations, for an average of 17.3 health violations per home each inspection. This is more than double the state average of 6.2 per inspection and more than triple the national average of 5.8, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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The metro-east has some of Illinois' worst nursing homes, data says. Here's why.