Proposed New Standards for Nursing Home Safety in IL

Draft recommendations from an Illinois task force on nursing home safety are drawing both praise and criticism.

Thursday's report recommends increased staffing for nursing homes. Pat Comstock of the state's largest nursing home trade group says that may be impossible. She says it's already difficult to find qualified workers.

Praise for the report comes from Tony Zipple, who heads a Chicago-based nonprofit agency serving people with mental illness.

Zipple gives the task force high marks for recognizing the need for affordable supportive housing. He'd like the state to do more to prevent people with severe mental illnesses from ever having to move into a nursing home.

Illinois ranks highest in the nation in the number of mentally ill adults under age 65 living in nursing homes.