Nursing home faces $100,000 fine for heroin overdose

State and federal health officials have imposed fines after residents overdosed on heroin inside in a nursing home.

Five residents of Continental Nursing & Rehabilitation Center were hospitalized in February, The Chicago Tribune reports. The Illinois public health department inspectors allege at least two used heroin again after returning to the facility despite instructions to closely monitored.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has imposed civil monetary penalties of $76,000 for the alleged violations. The state health department has also imposed a $25,000 fine on the facility for allegedly failing to properly monitor and treat residents with drug addictions.

Continental houses older residents and younger adults with mental illness. The facility did not admit deficiencies in plans for corrective actions that CMS accepted in April. "The facility has ceased admitting any residents with active substance abuse," according to the plan.

The health department is also investigating a sixth drug overdose from September 2015. 

CMS Nursing Home Compare ranked Contiental an overall one-star facility.

Read more: Opioids and older adults

                   Opioid addiction among the elderly

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.