Federal regulators recently gave West Side's Columbus Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Center its lowest overall rating of "well below average" for unsafe conditions, misuse of psychotropic drugs and other violations. Medicare gave the facility a one star rating, while the Illinois Dept. of Public Health has cited the center (Tribune) at least five times for various violations since Jan. 1, 2002.
Of the 193 residents at the center as of Dec. 31, 2006, 32 were felons and one was a registered sex offender. But even felons, if diagnosed with mental illness, qualify for Medicaid-funded housing at state nursing homes (Tribune).
So perhaps it should come as no surprise to hear about the brutal murder of a 72-year-old dementia patient (Tribune) who accidentally wandered into the room of convicted felon Ardyce Nauden.
The victim, Andres Cardona, entered Nauden's room and began eating his lunch, unaware that he was in the wrong room. Nauden then allegedly beat Cardona within an inch of his life. He died later and Nauden was charged with first-degree murder.
Illinois is one of just a handful of states that houses mentally ill adults, including thousands of felons, in state-funded nursing homes. Cordona's murder is hardly an isolated case, according to the Tribune article, and the governor and state lawmakers have held hearings intended to make these facilities safer for its diverse residents.
Satisfying the needs of both elderly patients and mentally ill, sometimes violent, patients is no easy task. What's clear, at least, is that the arrangement is not working as intended.
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