Feds Accuse Local Health Care Facilities Of Violating COVID-19 Rules
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some Chicago nursing homes are getting fined by the federal government for not keeping their workers safe from COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which investigates workplace safety, has issued more than 200 citations across the country and found violations at 10 health care facilities in the Chicago area.
Six are in the suburbs: Butterfield Health Care in Bolingbrook; City View Multicare Center in Cicero; Greystone Healthcare Management in Northrook; Alden Terrance in McHenry; Alden Valley Ridge in Bloomingdale; and Geneva Nursing and Rehabilitation in Geneva.
Four are in Chicago: Presence Chicago Hospital Network/St. Joseph Hospital; Little Village Nursing and Rehabilitation; MADO Healthcare Uptown; and Concerto Renal Services.
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CBS 2 took a closer look at three of the facilities.
At the Little Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, OSHA said staff did not have an adequate written personal protective equipment police and did not test to make sure PPE fit properly. OSHA fined the company $9,446. The facility has had 23 COVID-19 cases and five deaths, according to the Pro Publica data portal.
OSHA cited the same issues at the Alden Valley Ridge Rehab Facility. It was fined $13,494. The Pro Publica data shows Alden Valley Ridge has had eight COVID-19 cases and four deaths.
In April, a MADO Uptown employee died of coronavirus. The company was cited for not notifying OSHA within eight hours of the death. A MADO spokesman told CBS 2 the employee died in a hospital and her family notified MADO after that eight hour window had passed. OSHA fined MADO $8,675.
Late Wednesday afternoon the national group that represents nursing homes, the American Health Care Association, released the following statement about the charges:
"At a time when long term care providers are struggling to acquire personal protective equipment due to worldwide supply chain issues and lack of prioritization by many public health officials and suppliers, it is unfortunate that government agencies are penalizing providers rather than helping them. We need government agencies, public health officials and the public to rally around our long term care providers so we can get through this pandemic and protect our residents and staff."
