SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Mercy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center $10,000 (Statement of Violation) for failure to provide a resident with necessary care and treatment. The 239-bed skilled care facility is located at 19000 Halsted St. in Homewood.

Responding to a complaint, Department surveyors learned the facility did not notify a resident's physician or provide follow-up care after staff observed a discolored area of a resident's right breast and three months later noted an open wound in the same location.

An additional two months passed before another staff member observed the wound and the facility contacted the woman's physician. A biopsy detected cancer and the woman's breast had to be removed.

A Department ordered plan of correction required the facility to train all licensed nursing staff on proper resident monitoring and procedures to immediately notify a physician when there is a significant change in a resident's condition.

Mercy Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.