Illinois nursing home residents have new protections under a law signed by Governor JB Pritzker. The landmark bill, proposed by people with disabilities and sponsored by Sen. Lakesia Collins, will strengthen the rights and protections of individuals living in long-term care facilities that speak up about problems.
“For too long, residents in long-term care facilities have been vulnerable to abuse, with limited approaches to stand up for their rights without the fear of retaliation,” said Lyndsay Sullivan, a nursing facility resident and leader of the Humanize Long Term Care campaign and Alliance for Community Services. “This law is a game-changer, it empowers residents, strengthens enforcement, holds facility owners accountable, and ensures better training for staff.”
Two and a half years of grassroots organizing and coalition building spearheaded by people with disabilities including facility residents and their allies made this anti-retaliation policy possible. Research confirms resident testimony that residents are often silenced, especially in for-profit facilities, by retaliation for speaking up. Shelly Berry, a former nursing home resident, stated, “Other patients in the nursing home, they were actually scared to ask for help because they really were intimidated… because the facility would retaliate.”
This new law expands and clarifies resident rights to speak up as protected activities; more clearly defines what constitutes retaliatory conduct by facilities; explicitly expands resident access to civil court to seek statutory damages for suffering illegal retaliation; requires a new annual training for all facility staff on retaliation.
The Alliance for Community Services is a coalition of people with disabilities, seniors, poor people and public service workers.
The Humanize Long Term Care campaign / IRRC is a disability-led movement working to transform the Illinois long term care system
