SPRINGFIELD, IL – West Main Nursing Home has been fined $5,000 (Statement of Violation) by the Illinois Department of Public Health for failure to prevent a resident from leaving the facility unsupervised. The 34-bed intermediate care facility is located at 1244 W. Main in Mascoutah.

Responding to complaints, Department surveyors learned a resident, who had a history of attempting to leave the facility, wandered away from the home unnoticed. A passerby found the resident outside the facility and alerted staff.

The resident was observed walking toward the front exit several times prior to the incident stating she wanted to go home and staff redirected her away from the door.

While no one was aware how the resident left the facility, the sound made by the door alarms was changed following the incident because the alarms sounded similar to the resident call bells.

A Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to assess and update door alarms and to train staff on preventing resident elopement, including how to assess resident risk of elopement, how to identify and monitor high-risk residents and how to respond to an alarm that has been activated.

West Main Nursing Home has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.