December 5, 1997
ANNA NURSING HOME FINED
FOR FAILURE TO HAVE EMERGENCY PLAN
SPRINGFIELD, IL — The Illinois Department of Public Health has fined City Care Center $10,000 for failure to have emergency procedures in place to deal with an electrical power outage. The 70-bed skilled care facility is located at 315 S. Brady Mill Road in Anna.
When a power outage occurred at the facility in August, a Department surveyor at the facility for an annual inspection found a resident experiencing difficulty breathing because her oxygen machine was without power. Facility employees were alerted, but they did not know which outlets carried electricity from an emergency generator. Thirty minutes after the electricity went out, staff were able to run an extension cord to an outlet to get the oxygen machine back in operation.
The surveyor also found two oxygen tanks labeled as having oxygen that were in fact empty and three other oxygen tanks that did not have markings to indicate how much oxygen remained.
As part of a mandatory plan of correction, the Department ordered the facility to have an emergency plan in place, to ensure an emergency source of electricity is available, to label outlets powered by the emergency generator, to conduct emergency drills at least twice a year and to instruct all staff about power outage policies.
City Care Center has requested a hearing on the Department's action. No hearing date has been set.
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Illinois Department
of Public Health 535 West Jefferson Street Springfield, Illinois 62761 Phone 217-782-4977 Fax 217-782-3987 TTY 800-547-0466 Questions or Comments |