"As legislators we need to come up with responsible solutions to ensure the health and safety of the residents in nursing home facilities." "Over the summer my office and the Illinois Department of Public Health conducted visits to some of these facilities. The reports of what we found were alarming," Steans said. "I am concerned that some of the nursing homes in the area that care for our mentally ill and seniors are not always providing quality treatment. This can then lead to an unsafe environment for both the patients and our community."

According to a new federal report, Illinois has the nation’s second-highest number of nursing homes that have been flagged as having poor quality. In addition, forty-seven Illinois nursing homes appear on a list of facilities that perform "most poorly" on quality-of-care measures, according to a study released by the General Accounting Office. It’s second only to Indiana, which has 52 facilities on the list.

"Forty-three percent of all mental health patients confined to nursing homes in Chicago live in my district. I am constantly hearing from constituents both in and outside the nursing homes about the dangerous situations that occur," Steans said. "One of the nursing homes in my district had over 6500 calls placed to the police in a 20 month period. That is 18 calls a day. As legislators we need to come up with responsible solutions to ensure the health and safety of the residents in nursing home facilities."