SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Rockford Health Care Center $5,000 (Statement of Violation), for failure to prevent a resident from leaving the facility unsupervised. The 75-bed skilled and intermediate care facility is located at 310 Arnold Ave. in Rockford.

As part of an incident report investigation, Department surveyors learned a resident, who had a history of attempting to leave the facility and often expressed a desire to go home, wandered away unnoticed. When the door alarm sounded, an employee went to the door and turned the alarm off without conducting a thorough search for the resident.

The resident was returned by police after a citizen reported seeing him near a busy intersection. Once the resident was returned to the facility, he was placed on one-to-one monitoring until he was transferred to another facility.

The Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to ensure that all staff are aware of their duties in caring for and supervising residents, to ensure direct care staff is aware of the level of care and supervision required by each resident assigned to them and to ensure appropriate staff intervention is taken in order to meet the needs of residents.

Rockford Health Care Center has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.