Illinois’s already dreadful nursing home ranking went from bad to worse as the state’s ranking plunged to its lowest point in report card history, reports Families for Better Care, a national nursing home resident advocacy group based in Austin.
The group published its third state-by-state nursing home report card by analyzing eight federal measures to gauge nursing home quality.
Illinois nursing homes consistently underachieved in frontline caregiving hours, scoring a failing grade in the critical quality measure for the third consecutive report card.
“Grossly inadequate staffing contributed to the enormity of Illinois’s nursing home neglect,” said Brian Lee, the group’s executive director. “Residents are unable to be cared for properly when nearly 80 percent of the homes have middling to below average staffing levels.”
Along with its grim staffing scores, Illinois’s nursing homes continue to be plagued by a very troubling regulatory track record. The Land of Lincoln scored failing grades in the percentage of nursing homes with deficiencies (97 percent) and the percentage of nursing homes with severe deficiencies (27 percent), ranking No. 47 and No. 42 respectively.
“It’s shameful that Illinois nursing home owners and state officials have allowed nursing home care to sink to this abhorrent level,” said Lee. “Far too many residents are needlessly suffering from abuse and neglect.”
According to the report card, more than 25 percent of the state’s nursing homes were, once again, cited one or more severe deficiencies, indicating ongoing mistreatment of residents.
“A great way for Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Legislature to reverse the state’s trend of nursing home neglect is by passing a tough staffing standard, something the residents sorely need” Lee stated. “But a new staffing standard won’t be enough, lawmakers must find a way to help nursing homes pay for any new staffing mandate and then ensure the money is being expended for increased staffing if care is to improve at all .”
Illinois’s 2019 Nursing Home Report Card is available for download at http://www.nursinghomereportcards.com.
ABOUT FAMILIES FOR BETTER CARE
Families for Better Care, Inc. is a non-profit citizen advocacy group dedicated to creating public awareness of the conditions in our nation’s nursing homes and developing solutions for improving quality of life and care. For more information, visit http://familiesforbettercare.com.
