Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Tuesday four arrests were made in a south suburban Chicago nursing home after a surprise “Operation Guardian” compliance check.
Investigators arrested Donna Williams, 48, for disorderly conduct; Aisha Reasonover, 41, for retail theft; Robert Simmons, 55, for possession of marijuana; and Sheri Spencer, 38, for trespassing. The compliance check was the 28th conducted by Madigan’s office and partnering state agencies since she launched her "Operation Guardian" initiative in February 2010.
According to Madigan's office, 42 residents and employees have been arrested in the state's ongoing effort to ensure nursing home residents are safe.
Illinois is among the front-runner states in its watch over nursing home employees. Currently, there are no federal laws requiring background checks for prospective nursing home employees, according to the U.S. OIG Attorney General Daniel Levinson. Ten states require a check of F.B.I. and state records, and 33 require a check of state records. The remaining states do not have explicit requirements.
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging has said, “The current system of state-based background checks is haphazard, inconsistent, and full of gaping holes.” Kohl co-sponsored a law passed in 2009 that provides $160 million over three years to help establish a comprehensive nationwide system of background checks for long-term care workers.
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A recent federal survey of nursing homes does not paint a pretty picture. According a March 1 report issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, 92 percent of a representative 260 nursing homes providing Medicare services employed at least one individual with at least one criminal conviction in 2009. Overall, 5 percent of nursing facility employees had at least one criminal conviction, the survey showed.
The OIG recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) develop background check procedures for all states to use that clearly define employee classifications for staff that have direct patient access to patients. The OIG also said CMS should work with states to develop a list of convictions that disqualify an individual from nursing facility employment.
[See also: National Quality Forum posts measures for nursing homes.]
Follow Diana Manos on Twitter @DManosHFN.