August 28, 2008

Reviewing State Inspections for Illinois Nursing Home Facilities

Filed under: Illinois Nursing Home Neglect — admin @ 11:58 am

Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers regularly advocate for the rights of aging citizens, and work tirelessly to help educate the public on preventing Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse.

When faced with the difficult decision to place a loved one in long term care, Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say there are many things families should consider.  Once you’ve decided long term care is the appropriate choice, you will need to select a facility - which can be very daunting. A good place to start your research into a facility’s history of care is to review its previous state inspections.  Unfortunately, say Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers, state inspections of long-term care facilities happen, at best, on an annual basis and the information regarding any violations is typically slow to be updated for review online. However, facilities are required by law to make information regarding their most recent inspection available upon request.

Knowing what appeared on previous inspections can help you to know what questions to ask (like how a violation has been corrected and/or resolved). Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say you should always bear in mind that state inspections are rarely done without prior notification and therefore, do not represent conditions found as a matter of routine.

Says one Chicago nursing home abuse attorney,

“Poor quality of care for residents within long-term care facilities are often masked by the presentation of an environment that appears organized and clean.  During a random review of the information provided online, fifty-percent of listed facilities with multiple violations in previous years received new or recurring violations, equal or greater in number than previous years, suggesting that state inspections and imposed fines are ineffective against dangerous conditions that lead to preventable illness and injury, abuse and neglect.”

Evaluating a facility for the potential care of your loved one is a process that should ultimately be done in person, and approached from several vital avenues. Knowing what questions to ask beforehand and what to look for can help safeguard your loved one from injury, abuse, and Illinois nursing home neglect.

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