SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Alden Heather Rehabilitation and Health Care Center $10,000 (Statement of Violation), for failure to properly investigate or to report the sexual assault of a resident by another resident. The 173-bed skilled care facility is located at 15600 S. Honore St. in Harvey.

Responding to a complaint, Department surveyors learned the facility administrator, after being informed a resident had sexually assaulted another resident, instructed staff not to notify the resident's physician or call police, as required by the facility's abuse policy. The administrator also told staff to write an incident report, but not to include it in the residents' files.

According to staff interviews, the man led a confused, non-verbal woman resident into his room and barricaded the door with a night stand while he assaulted her. Fifteen minutes prior to this incident, an aide stopped the man from taking the same resident into his room, redirected the woman back to her room, which was about 50 feet away, and left her alone.

Family members contacted police about 18 hours after the attack and asked facility staff to send the resident to the hospital to be examined by a physician. The resident's doctor told surveyors he was notified when the woman was taken to the hospital, but only told a male resident had been found in her room.

Following the assault, facility staff did not re-evaluate the man's care plan or take steps to protect other residents. The man was arrested for rape, but his physician was not notified until about 12 hours after he was taken into custody.

A Department-ordered plan of correction required facility administration to initiate a complete and thorough investigation into allegations of abuse, to notify the appropriate authorities of suspected abuse, to conduct an immediate evaluation of the alleged perpetrator and to protect its residents from harm.

Alden Heather Rehabilitation and Health Care Center has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.