Illinois Nursing Home Faces Possible Closure
Somerset Place, a Chicago, Illinois nursing home, faces possible closure unless it can remedy the situation that placed "the health and safety of...residents in immediate jeopardy." Reports of abuse and violence and many citations from the Department of Public Health have placed this nursing home in the public eye. Complaints from Alderman Mary Ann Smith and community groups helped expose the facility's problems.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a ten day investigation at the facility and, at its conclusion, threatened the facility with termination from Medicare and Medicaid if the problems are not corrected within 23 days. Federal fines of $6,050 are accruing daily against the facility. The Public Health Department began the process to revoke the facility's state nursing home license last week. According to a Public Health Department spokesperson, "This happens very infrequently. This is the most serious thing the state can do." The facility has requested a hearing to contest the license revocation saying "the well-being of our residents, the community and our 250 employees is of paramount importance to us and we are committed to resolving these matters and moving forward."
Somerset specializes in caring for mentally ill adults. Among its 400 residents, Somerset housed 66 felons. From April 2008 to July 2009, police investigated 15 alleged assaults and/or batteries, five criminal sexual assaults, and five narcotic possessions - all within the facility. One Somerset resident, Maratta Walker, had been prostituting herself and using cocaine while a resident at the facility.
Somerset reported profits of approximately $2.3 million on revenues of $15.5 million in 2008, almost all of it from Medicaid.
