State-run developmental center in Dixon will not lose Medicare funding despite citations

[October 06, 2023]  By BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
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A state-operated residential facility that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will not lose Medicare funding despite receiving recent citations from state surveyors for failing to protect its residents from harm.

Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon has two pending “immediate jeopardy” citations from the Illinois Department of Public Health in connection with resident physical abuse and failure to properly address the spread of a bacterial infection at the facility.

An immediate jeopardy tag is applied to a facility under federal rules when surveyors determine that a situation requires “immediate corrective action” to prevent the severe injury or death of an individual.

An immediate jeopardy tag can result in the loss of Medicare funding for the facility. State-operated developmental centers, like Mabley, receive approximately 50 percent of their funding from Medicare. Mabley was scheduled to lose federal funding Wednesday unless the Illinois Department of Human Services, which runs Mabley, filed a remediation plan.

IDHS Director of Developmental Disabilities Tonya Piephoff said in an interview on Friday the corrective action plan has been submitted, but the immediate jeopardy citation is only purged after a reinspection from the IDPH to ensure the mitigations outlined in it are underway. IDHS and IDPH can negotiate the plans until they are accepted.

IDHS officials confirmed Wednesday that the reinspection – which must be done on a surprise basis – has not yet occurred, but it must happen by Oct. 10.

(Capitol News Illinois file photo by Jerry Nowicki)

“While IDHS cannot discuss details while the corrective plans await final approval, we can share that immediate steps have been taken,” an IDHS spokesperson said in a statement. “Those actions include, but are not limited to, implementation of increased infection control measures and training, and increased rounds and observation to ensure effective implementation.”

The facility received an immediate jeopardy tag after IDPH found Mabley staff did not respond effectively to a Shigella bacteria outbreak. It also received a citation in relation to the abuse of a non-verbal patient found in their bed with bruises to their groin and pelvic area, as if “they had been kicked in the groin repeatedly.”

The facility previously was tagged on June 8 involving a peer-to-peer sexual assault. That tag was removed in late June. On July 11, the IDPH surveyor verified the initiation of the remediation plan.

The Mabley Developmental Center was named for Chicago Tribune columnist Jack Mabley, who created the Forgotten Children’s Foundation, a charity that helped support the center.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.