SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Marklund Children's Home $50,000 (Statement of Violation) for failure to provide adequate monitoring and care to meet the health and safety needs of a resident. The 164-bed skilled care facility for persons younger than 22 years of age is located at 164 S. Prairie Ave. in Bloomingdale.

As part of an incident report and complaint investigation, the Department learned a resident was found in his bed unresponsive and with his tracheotomy tube removed. Staff suctioned the resident's tracheotomy tube, called 911 and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation along with oxygen. The boy's pulse returned briefly, but he was pronounced dead at an area hospital due to acute airway obstruction.

The volume on the resident's oxygen monitor was turned down so low that the alarm could not be heard by staff. The employee who found the resident unresponsive could not recall whether the monitor's green light was flashing, which indicates that it is working. She said she did not know the monitor had to be charged and the knob turned to full volume until after the incident. Another employee checked the monitors of the nine other residents on the unit and found two others were turned down low.

The Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to review and revise policies and procedures regarding the care of residents with tracheotomies and to train staff on how to correctly use monitoring devices.

Marklund Children's Home has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been scheduled.