October 12, 2001

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Rockford Healthcare Center $5,000 (statement of violation) for failure to take the necessary precautions to prevent a resident from leaving the facility unsupervised. The 77-bed intermediate care facility is located at 310 Arnold Ave. in Rockford.

As part of an incident investigation, Department surveyors learned a resident, who had a history of wandering and exiting the facility, left the center unnoticed. Facility staff did not realize the resident was gone until they were notified the resident had been found across the street. The resident was unharmed.

During the three months prior to the incident, the resident attempted to leave the facility nine times and on two occasions was able to get outside. Despite his history of wandering, the facility did not revise his care plan to address the behavior.

Surveyors determined the resident left the building either through the front door with departing visitors or through a hallway exit that had a malfunctioning door alarm. The front entrance requires a code to be entered to exit, but there is a 15-second delay before the door alarm reactivates.

A Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to ensure all resident-accessible exterior doors are equipped with functional alarms or are constantly visually monitored.

Rockford Healthcare Center did not request a hearing on the Department's action.