As of May 2019, Illinois has four SFF nursing homes; Indiana has three. Illinois has 18 SFF Candidates; Indiana has 14.
Before this month, a list kept by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was not shared with the public regarding nursing homes determined to have a “persistent record of poor care” to their residents. On June 3, 2019, the two U.S. Senators from Pennsylvania (Bob Casey (D-PA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA)) released this list to the public. See, “U.S. Senate report reveals previously undisclosed list of nearly 400 troubled nursing homes, with almost 20 in Illinois,” written by Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar and published in the Chicago Tribune on June 4, 2019.
The full report was published as “Families’ and Residents’ Right to Know: Uncovering Poor Care in America’s Nursing Homes,” by Senators Casey and Toomey (full report available online).
The importance of this revelation cannot be underestimated for nursing home residents and their families. The list reveals not only those facilities in Illinois and Indiana providing such deficient services they are currently designated as “Special Focus Facilities” (SFF) but also nursing homes in our part of the country that are considered as candidates for the SFF program.
Today, we are providing an excerpt from this June 2019 Senate Report, identifying all the nursing homes listed as either SFF or SFF Candidates in either Illinois or Indiana.
What is the Special Focus Facility Program? What Does SFF Mean?
The CMS runs the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program. CMS representatives (as well as agents acting on behalf of either the State of Illinois or the State of Indiana) visit our nursing homes routinely, to make sure the facility is meeting the standards mandated by Medicare and Medicaid insofar as providing quality care to the nursing home residents.
When inspections discover serious problems, the nursing home is given an opportunity to fix things. If it fails to do so, then its participation in Medicare and Medicaid can be terminated. No more federal money.
According to the CMS, their inspections find that a “minority of nursing homes” have:
- More problems than other nursing homes (about twice the average number of deficiencies);
- More serious problems than most other nursing homes (including harm or injury experienced by residents); and
- A pattern of serious problems that has persisted over a long period of time (as measured over the three years before the date the nursing home was first put on the SFF list).
Sadly, the CMS discovered these sub-par nursing homes would “yo-yo” in and out of being in compliance. The issues were not being permanently resolved. So, the “Special Focus Facility” (SFF) initiative was created.
When a nursing home is designated as a Special Focus Facility (SFF), it will get twice as many inspections as other nursing homes. The CMS will take action to enforce compliance with federal safety and care regulations, including assessing civil monetary penalties (“fines”) prior to the ultimate sanction of being terminated from Medicare and Medicaid.
Determining which facilities should be labelled as SFF is done through assessing points. There are points for the number of deficiencies found. There are also points for the scope and severity of these deficiencies. For details in how the determinations are made for which Illinois and Indiana nursing homes are SFF and SFF Candidates, read the May 3, 2019, letter from Administrator of DHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to Senator Casey (Appendix C in the Casey-Toomey Report).
Indiana and Illinois Nursing Homes Listed as SFF or SFF Candidates
From Appendix D in the Casey-Toomey Report, here are those Special Focus Facilities (SFF) and Candidates for the SFF Program in Illinois and Indiana as of May 2019:
Illinois and Indiana Special Focus Facilities (SFF Nursing Homes)
- APERION CARE BLOOMINGTON (Illinois)
- APERION CARE CAPITOL (Illinois)
- APERION CARE CAIRO (Illinois)
- FRANKLIN GROVE LIVING AND REHAB (Illinois)
- VERNON HEALTH & REHABILITATION (Indiana)
- APERION CARE ARBORS MICHIGAN CITY (Indiana)
- LAWRENCE MANOR HEALTHCARE CENTER (Indiana)
Illinois and Indiana Special Focus Facility Candidates (SFF Candidate Nursing Homes)
- GREENTREE OF BRADLEY REHAB (Illinois)
- CHAMPAIGN URBANA NRSG & REHAB (Illinois)
- SWANSEA REHAB HEALTH CARE (Illinois)
- WEST SUBURBAN NURSING & REHAB CENTER (Illinois)
- GENERATIONS AT MCKINLEY COURT (Illinois)
- GARDENVIEWMANOR (Illinois)
- GENERATIONS AT MCKINLEY PLACE (Illinois)
- CHAMPAIGN COUNTY NURSING HOME (Illinois)
- ACCOLADE HEALTHCARE OF PONTIAC (Illinois)
- ALDEN TERRACE OF MCHENRY REHAB (Illinois)
- WLLOW CREST NURSING PAVILION (Illinois)
- SOUTH ELGIN REHAB & HCC (Illinois)
- EDWARDSVILLE NSG & REHAB CTR (Illinois)
- HELIA HEALTHCARE OF BELLEVILLE (Illinois)
- HELIA HEALTHCARE OF CHAMPAIGN (Illinois)
- ELEVATE CARE WAUKEGAN (Illinois)
- LANDMARK OF RICHTON PARK (Illinois)
- BURGIN MANOR (Illinois)
- ESSEX NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER (Indiana)
- SIGNATURE HEALTHCARE OF LAFAYETÍE (Indiana)
- HANOVER NURSING CENTER (Indiana)
- APERION CARE VALPARAISO (Indiana)
- SIMMONS LOVING CARE HEALTH FACILITY (Indiana)
- LIFE CARE CENTER OF ROCHESTER (Indiana)
- SIGNATURE HEALTHCARE OF NEIA/BURGH (Indiana)
- MAJESTIC CARE OF FORT WAYNE (Indiana)
- RAWLINS HOUSE HEALTH & LIVING COMMUNITY (Indiana)
- APERION CARE PERU (Indiana)
- MAJESTIC CARE OF CONNERSVILLE (Indiana)
- NORTH RIDGE VILLAGE NURSING & REHABILITATION CENTE (Indiana)
- GOLDEN LIVING CENTER-ELKHART (Indiana)
- APERION CARE TOLLESTON PARK (Indiana)
Check the National List for Details on All Federally-Certified Nursing Homes in Indiana and Illinois
Most nursing homes go through the process to be certified by either Medicare and/or Medicaid in order to get federal revenue. These certifications are not secret.
You may investigate any nursing home in either Indiana or Illinois, as well as the rest of the country, at the federal government’s Nursing Home Comparison Site. Searches can be done by a specific facility name, or you can review various care facilities in a particular area by searching within a certain zip code.
The information at the Nursing Home Comparison Site is updated on the last Wednesday of each month.
Justice for Victims of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Indiana and Illinois
Nursing home residents and their loved ones need to be aware of the wide-range of care being provided in care facilities in our part of the country. Both state and federal laws exist to protect those living in these nursing homes as well as offering avenues for justice to victims in the aftermath of abuse or neglect.
For more, read:
- Seeking Justice for Victims of Nursing Home Injuries in Indiana and Illinois
- Nursing Home Abuse in Indiana and Illinois: Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation of the Elderly
- Nursing Home Injury Claims for Victims in Indiana and Illinois; and
- Nursing Home Falls: Claims for Serious or Fatal Fall Injuries to Nursing Home Residents.
If you or someone you know lives in a nursing home in Indiana or Illinois, it is important to be alert to the quality of care provided and the legal protections that exist for nursing home residents and their families. Please be careful out there!
