Forest Park LLC, the corporate owners of Pavilion of Forest Park nursing home have plead guilty to felony gross neglect charges that stem from the death of a long-term resident.   The guilty plea follows a 2005 grand jury indictment of Forest Park LLC and Jason Garti, the medical director and wound-care physician of the nursing home.

Specifically the criminal charges related to Shirley Massey, 48, who died from pressure sore complications after a four month stay at Pavilion of Forest Park.  Massey was taken to Loyola Hospital in Maywood, IL where she was diagnosed with severe bed sores and tissue damage eroded to the bone.

Cook County Circuit Judge James Schreier ordered the company to pay a $25,000 fine and $75,000 in investigation and court costs. The company also was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 30 months conditional discharge. The nursing home was sold to another company in July 2007.  The case against Dr. Garti remains open.

According to Cook County Clerk of Court records Massey's Estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pavilion of Forest Park, its parent company Care Centers and Dr. Garti in 2003.  A mere three years after the case was filed, the lawsuit was settled.  

 Read more about this case of nursing home neglect at a Chicago nursing home here.