CHICAGO — A Chicago nursing home where mentally ill patients were found wandering off without permission, fighting with other patients and suffering verbal abuse lost a court fight Friday to remain in the Medicaid program.
With all but two of its more than 300 patients receiving Medicaid benefits, it appeared that a cutoff of the program at the Somerset Place nursing home for mentally troubled patients could close the institution.
U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. turned down a request from Somerset for a temporary restraining order barring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from terminating the institution’s Medicaid certificate.
Dow said in his 11-page order that “it is hardly clear that it is in the patients’ best interest to remain at Somerset.”
“The secretary (of Health and Human Services) has determined that remaining at Somerset is not in the residents’ best interest,” Dow said.
Dow said Somerset had been treated fairly by federal officials.
The termination order is due to go into effect Sunday. After that, Somerset has 30 days to close down or find some other way to regain its Medicaid status.
Its lawsuit against the government remains in place and is assigned to U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan.
He was away from the courthouse on Friday and Dow presided at the hearing in the role of emergency judge.
There was a last-minute inspection of the home Friday by officials of the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) that, had it turned out favorably for Somerset, could have allowed it to stay in the Medicaid program.
But the nursing home issued a statement afterward that suggested the outcome of the inspection was disappointing.
“We are not surprised but we are disappointed in CMS’s decision, which potentially could shut down the only home many of our residents know,” Somerset said in its statement.
“Somerset is more than a residential treatment center. It is a community. We intend to work with CMS to resolve their concerns so that our residents are not subjected to unnecessary upheaval in their lives.”
Recent government inspections showed serious conditions at the nursing home, according to court papers filed by the government.
They said residents with mental illnesses and alcohol problems had been allowed to leave without anyone checking to see if they had permission.
One resident started a fire in his room with prohibited smoking materials. Another was found smoking crack cocaine and other residents reported that he had been selling drugs within the nursing home.
There were “multiple instances of resident altercations in which one resident assaulted another or two residents fought each other,” the court papers said.
A resident with a history of “violence, homicidal ideation and extensive aggressive behavior” hit, slapped and bit others.
A resident with convictions for armed robbery, aggravated battery and attempted murder hit one resident and pushed two others in an elevator.
Some guards were verbally abusive to residents, the documents said.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.