Heroin Overdoses at North Side Nursing Home Result in More Than $100K in Fines, Penalties

CHICAGO, IL — A North Side nursing could face more than $100,000 in federal and state fines and penalties stemming from a string of heroin overdoses at the health institution earlier this year, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In February, five residents at Continental Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 5336 N. Western Ave., were hospitalized and treated for overdosing on the drug, the Tribune reports.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also claims that two of the residents who overdosed began using heroin again within hours after returning to the center, despite those residents being under tighter supervision, according to the report. One of those residents went on to overdose a second time, the report added.

The 208-bed facility has been hit with a total of $76,000 in financial penalties from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) over the February incidents, the report stated. The center also is fighting a $25,000 fine from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which accused Continental of improperly monitoring and treating residents with drug addictions, the report added.

Another incident of a resident overdosing is being investigated by the public health department, as well, the report stated. This overdose allegedly happened in September of last year, and the police report concerning the incident describes a 56-year-old man who was discovered on his bedroom floor with five packets of a white powder next to him, the report added.

Although the facility is legally required to report unusual events that risk patients' safety to the state's public health agency, Continental didn't notify the department, which only learned of it after the Tribune had inquired about it.

In April, Continental submitted corrective measures to the CMS but didn't admit any deficiencies in care, according to the report. The center also stopped admitting "residents with active substance use," the report added.

Moishe Gubin, Continental's part-owner, told the Tribune he didn't know about the heroin overdoses and stated such incidents go "against what our mission has been."

More via the Chicago Tribune

Continental Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (photo via Google Earth)

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