Nursing homes escaping liability

Cross-posted from Illinois Deserves the Truth

Chicago's ABC affiliate ABC 7 aired a story on how Illinois nursing homes are not required to carry liability insurance. We’ve talked about this for a while, but it looks like the mainstream press is finally catching on to the severity of this issue. Estimates of how many nursing homes go without liability insurance are as high as 20%, and that’s not even counting nursing homes that are considered underinsured, or homes that carry policies from overseas insurers that don’t have to follow U.S. court orders. All of this means that when your loved one is mistreated or abused in a nursing home, chances are it will be very difficult to hold the facility accountable and seek compensation.

Last year, fines for nursing home violations in Illinois totaled over $3.5 million. Less than $1 million of that total has been collected. These fines aren’t just for petty infractions. According to the IDPH, there were 177 Type A violations in Illinois in 2007. These are situations in which there is a “substantial probability that death or serious mental or physical harm will result.” To give you a better picture, here are a few examples of A violations from recent IDPH reports:

• "Failure to prevent sexual abuse of a resident, and not reporting the incident to the proper authorities."
• “Using restraints for staff convenience, resulting in possible mental abuse. A resident was locked in a linen closet and two residents were tied to their beds with sheets."
• “Failure to prevent a medication error when staff gave a resident ten times the amount of the ordered dose. Staff also failed to notify the resident’s doctor about the overdose. The resident died two days later."

ABC also highlighted a few of the many tragic stories of loved ones dying from nursing home abuse.

"I didn't know that nursing homes were not required to carry insurance," said Jill Szczekocki, granddaughter.

In another case at Rosewood in 2006, Szczekocki's grandmother was left alone in a washroom; according to state records, by a new employee who hadn't finished orientation or been told of the 93-year old's mandatory care needs. Mae Blake fell and hit her head.

"Six weeks later, she was put on hospice and she passed away," said Szczekocki.

It is long past time we hold nursing homes responsible for such incidents. We can do this with house bill 5213 (we blogged about it here). HB 5213 would make it mandatory for nursing homes to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance. It would also make information on home’s coverage plans available to the public, so people like Ms. Szczekocki will know what to expect in the case of an accident. Nursing home residents deserve a guarantee that if they are victimized, they or their families will be fairly compensated. All Illinoisans should get behind this bill.

Click here to watch the ABC story.