SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined Friendship Home $5,000 (Statement of Violation) for failure to prevent a resident from leaving the facility unsupervised. The 49-bed skilled care facility is located at 826 N. High St. in Carlinville.

Responding to a complaint, Department investigators learned an 88-year-old resident left the facility without staff knowledge. The resident, who had a history of wandering, was returned to the facility unharmed after being found by a citizen in a yard about a mile from the facility.

The resident was fitted with an electronic monitoring device, but the alarm system activated by such devices was not working at the time of the incident. With the alarm in need of repairs, facility policy required residents considered to be at risk of elopement to be checked every half hour. However, according to a Department investigation, it had been at least 40 minutes since the resident had last been observed when two visitors notified staff they saw the woman outside the facility and a search was initiated.

An alarm on the front door, which would have alerted staff the woman was attempting to leave, was turned off. The administrator told Department surveyors that since there is so much activity at the front door during the day the alarm is often switched off. State regulations require all exit doors to either be alarmed or be visually monitored at all times.

The Department-ordered plan of correction required the facility to ensure that staff are aware of job duties and responsibilities, to assess each resident for their pattern of activity and/or movement in the facility, and to ensure that doors are under constant visual supervision when alarms are turned off.

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