Madigan: Keep Elgin Retirement Center Closed
CHICAGO (STMW) - Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Wednesday filed an injunction order to keep an Elgin retirement center closed until it can pass health and safety codes.
The injunction, a release from Madigan's office said, follows numerous violations discovered by state health inspectors that forced the owners to close Bowes Retirement Center in September.
Madigan's office filed the injunction order in Kane County Circuit Court against retirement center owner Angel & Bell Corporation. The action will permanently enjoin the defendant from reopening, the release said.
The order will require the defendant to provide a written report within 30 days of the filing with the names and ages of the residents who moved from the facility after it closed. The order will also prohibit the corporation from opening any other site in Illinois to provide such skilled nursing care without first obtaining proper licensing to operate a nursing home.
Madigan's office filed the injunction order on behalf of the Illinois Department of Public Health after its inspectors found the retirement center was providing advanced nursing care to residents without the required nursing home license, training and medical requirements. During inspections conducted in May and October 2009, the department also found repeated areas of concern over the care and safety of residents.
"For a retirement center to provide this type of serious and complex medical care to residents without having the necessary training and fulfilling all the licensing requirements is dangerous and irresponsible," Madigan said. "This injunction order will assure that the defendant will never again put elderly and vulnerable residents at such risk."
The filing of this injunction order does not preclude residents or others from pursuing their own claims against the defendant or prevent any additional investigations by other oversight bodies, Madigan's office said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
