Nursing home sweeps find (100) residents with arrest warrants

[RamboLiberal]

Standing in front of a Northwest Side nursing home Monday, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan said her office has identified more than 100 nursing home residents with active arrest warrants during 21 unannounced sweeps of the facilities in the last nine months.

"Felons are using nursing homes in Illinois as safe houses," said Madigan, calling the number an "unfortunate milestone."

"We will continue to go into nursing homes as long as this problem exists. ... Our concern is that residents live in nursing homes where their care and safety are the priority," she said.

Madigan's office began leading the multiagency "Operation Guardian" checks of nursing homes after a Tribune investigation revealed violent assaults were occurring in facilities that house high numbers of felons and younger psychiatric patients.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-nursing-home-madigan-20100920,0,2114501.story

Same problem in my area of PA - big scandal this week was number of felons in nursing homes with Alzheimer's patients. We had an elderly woman fondled by one of the residents.

[thereismore]

1. A crime is a crime! Why don't we sweep nursing homes instead of chasing immigrants? nt

[KamaAina]

2. I hope their jails are accessible

most aren't.

Factoid: Most people don't know that fully one-quarter of all U.S. nursing home tresidents are people under age 65, with significant physical and/or psychiatric disabilities.

[madrchsod]

3. this has been an ongoing problem in illinois for years....

it is getting better but there still needs a lot of cleaning up.

[SoCalDem]

4. I wonder which facility can care for them more cost-efficiently

Taking them from nursing homes & putting them into jails cannot be all that much cheaper...based on the sort of nursing homes they are likely to be in in the first place.

Sounds like a right pocket-left pocket solution to me...unless you factor in the part where once in jail, they might just be left to die quietly in a cell, sans any sort of medical care .