Housing
Records show public housing often filled with violations
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Cockroaches, mice feces, broken appliances and mold were among the most severe violations found during standard public housing inspections this past year in Champaign County.
Elderly Watch
Inspectors find negligence, abuse in central Illinois nursing homes
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State officials have conducted hundreds of complaint-based nursing home inspections across central Illinois since 2011.
In the seven Medicare-certified nursing homes in Champaign County alone, inspectors from the Illinois Department of Public Health conducted at least 114 complaint-based inspections.
Elderly Watch
Inspections find peril in central Illinois nursing homes
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After months of interviews and reviewing Medicare data, Illinois Department of Public Health reports, court records and other documents, CU-CitizenAccess.org found that central Illinois homes are still accumulating steep fines and leaving residents at risk for untreated injuries, infections and medication errors. Credits
Reporting by Robert Holly and Claire Everett
Photographs by Darrell Hoemann
Graphics by Claire Everett and Acton H. Gorton
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Here are some of the key facts and findings:
In 16 Illinois counties, there are 81 nursing homes that accept government assistance under Medicare. More than 41 percent of those homes, a total of 34 facilities, are rated below what Medicare considers average. Champaign County has seven nursing homes. Three of those homes are rated as one-star facilities on Medicare’s five-star rating scale.
Elderly Watch
Husband’s treatment prompts wrongful death lawsuit
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After being admitted to the nursing home Heartland of Champaign to recover from a hospital stay for chest pain last year, Gerald Warmbier’s health rapidly deteriorated. Just days after entering the nursing home in May, he became “very sleepy” and unresponsive, Illinois Department of Public Health inspection reports noted. As a result, he was sent to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where he slowly started recovering after a little more than a week. Return to Key Findings
Inspections find peril in central Illinois nursing homes
Warmbier vs Heartland
Click to read a copy of the Warmbier vs Heartland complaint.
Elderly Watch
Tips for finding a good nursing home
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In one central Illinois nursing home, staff allowed a man labeled as an “elopement risk” to leave and wander 38 miles away.
In another facility, two employees were caught whispering that one of the employees was having an affair with a female resident’s husband until the resident started crying.
Health Care
Central Illinois nursing homes plagued by violations
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Gerald Warmbier began a medical journey last year that took him to the nursing home Heartland of Champaign.
But instead of helping him recover after medical treatment at Carle Foundation Hospital, the nursing home delivered such poor care that it led to his death, according to a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Champaign County by his wife.
Uncategorized
Despite training and inspections, keeping certified campus housing safe remains constant challenge
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For the past month, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been working to teach students what it takes to prevent fires as a part of a national campus fire safety initiative.
Nowhere are those lessons more needed than in the fraternities and sororities that routinely have dozens of fire-safety violations.
Food
First quarter brings two closures, 18 restaurant failures
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One Champaign restaurant was shut down for 37 violations during the first part of the year under the health department’s new placard system. Firehaus’s satisfactory compliance placard, 708 S. Sixth St., Champaign, on April 25, 2014. Another restaurant, Cactus Grill, was briefly shut down during its inspection for lack of hot water on Jan. 23. In the three months of the new program, Firehaus, 708 S. Sixth St., was closed because it failed its routine March inspection with an adjusted score of negative 19.
Food
Health inspectors temporarily close five eateries; fail four others
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Nine restaurants and eateries have failed health inspections since November, including five that were temporarily shut down.
At some of the restaurants public health inspectors found dozens of critical violations that included raw sewage on the floor, potentially hazardous food production and dishwasher malfunctions.
Uncategorized
Fraternities and sororities fail inspections; Violations take months to fix
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City safety inspectors find hundreds of fire hazards and safety violations in fraternities and sororities at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign each year, yet it can take months before some violations are corrected, inspection documents show.