I'm all for any tools that can help families make important decisions relating to nursing home care.  Too often I see families walking around with huge stacks of reports on nursing homes from various websites.  Not only is the the cross-referencing of websites difficult, much of the information is not current.

The best site I've come across was recently unveiled by the Chicago Tribune as an accompaniment to their article regarding convicted felons who now reside in Illinois Nursing Homes.

The website compiles data from various on-line and off-line sources including: the Illinois Department of Public Health, Medicare, Chicago Police Department, The Chicago Reader as well as information obtained by Tribune Reporters.  Families now can quickly access important information relating to Illinois Nursing Homes including:

• The number of residents living in the facility
• The number of residents living in the facility with a mental illness
• The number of residents living in the facility under 65 years of age
• The number of felons living in the facility
• The number of registered sex offenders living in the facility
• The number of hours of nursing care each patient receives on a daily basis
• Overall Medicare rating

Access the Chicago Tribune site here.