Soon after being listed on the first-quarter 2009 “violator list” published by Illinois Department of Public Health (“IDPH”), Helia Healthcare of Urbana closed its doors. Helia Healthcare of Urbana was a 99-bed facility, formerly located at 907 North Lincoln in Urbana, Illinois. The News Gazette reports that Helia Healthcare of Urbana transferred its residents to other facilities on April 24, 2009 when it was “unable to correct deficiencies” and lost its federal funding.

The “deficiencies” came to light when the IDPH issued Helia Healthcare of Urbana a violation notice and fined it $22,500. The IDPH stated that the facility needed to “develop and implement written policies and procedures that prohibit mistreatment, neglect, and abuse of residents and misappropriation of resident property.” The IDPH also found that the facility did not provide adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents, which resulted in injuries to residents.

The most concerning finding was that Helia Healthcare of Urbana had put a resident in immediate jeopardy. This jeopardy resulted from a lack of an anticoagulant policy that would provide staff with guidance on appropriate medication and treatment. The resident’s leg hemorrhaged after the facility failed to monitor and follow up on laboratory test results. The resident required emergency room treatment. Even though the resident’s condition could have been life-threatening, Helia Healthcare of Urbana had failed to fully implement an anticoagulant policy several weeks later, which left the residents at risk.

Helia Healthcare of Urbana was a for-profit facility and, according to the Medicare website, the owners operate other nursing home facilities. Although Helia Healthcare of Urbana is now closed, seven other facilities in Illinois have names beginning “Helia Healthcare.” Five of those facilities share the below-average one-star quality rating that Helia Healthcare had. These one-star facilities are: Helia Healthcare of Belleville, Helia Healthcare of Carbondale, Helia Healthcare of Champaign, Helia Healthcare of Energy, and Helia Healthcare of Greenville. Details of the conditions that earned the facilities the one-star rating can be found on the federal Medicare website.

If you are concerned about conditions and the treatment of residents at any of the Helia Healthcare facilities, call us at (888) 424-5757 for a confidential consultation.

Thanks to Deborah Morgan, J.D. for help in the preparation of this entry.