SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Friendship Care Center - Marion $5,000 (Statement of Violation) for failure to provide adequate supervision to prevent residents from leaving the facility unsupervised. The 57-bed intermediate care facility is located at 1101 N. Madison in Marion.

Responding to a complaint, Department surveyors learned that, three days after being admitted to the facility, a resident wandered away and was found across the street climbing a snow-covered, rocky incline. The resident, who had been identified as an elopement risk and had been fitted with an ankle monitor, was dressed only in a short-sleeved T-shirt, overalls and socks. At the time, the temperature was 10 degrees. He was treated for exposure and minor cuts and bruises to his arms.

Thirty minutes before the resident left the facility, staff had redirected him away from a side exit door. One day prior his elopement, nurse's notes stated the resident "went outside and sat in snow." Surveyors found no information in the resident's chart to indicate the facility took steps to address his behavior or to initiate additional safety precautions.

The facility was notified of the resident's location after a motorist reported hearing him call for help. Surveyors determined the resident left through a hall door that had been left cracked open. The door was equipped with an alarm, but the alarm battery was dead.

A Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to ensure all resident-accessible exterior doors are equipped with functional alarms or are visually monitored at all times; to note changes in a resident's behavior or condition in his or her individual care plan; and to develop policies and procedures to address safety precautions for those residents identified with wandering behaviors.

Friendship Care Center - Marion has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.