State and federal authorities have notified Chicago's troubled Somerset Place nursing home that it will be shut down unless it quickly remedies serious safety breaches that put "the health and safety of ... residents in immediate jeopardy." [...] Separately, the state public health department last week began the process of revoking the facility's state nursing home license. Somerset, 5009 N. Sheridan Rd., has requested an administrative hearing to contest the revocation decision. Read the entire article here.
Awesome! This would be a great improvement to the neighborhood and our resident's welfare and safety. It would be great to turn this into the magnificent hotel it once was.
ReplyDeleteI say close it. I know the people working there are trying, but it appears to be a a toxic facility and needs to be reconstituted. I am sure there are some good people living there, but the institution they have created doesn't work and they have not been great neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThe article mentioned 2.3 mil in profits. Not sure why some of that can be re-invested to better manage the place. I *have* noticed since the original article came out, that the "regulars" panhandling on Argyle haven't been around. Has anyone else seen anything? Regardless, the real problem is what is happening inside.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that there was no mention in this article about where, should this place close down, the residents will go.
ReplyDeleteThis could get very messy, very quickly if not handled properly.
And we all know the City's history of handling things properly.
Glad to see something might be done. It has been slightly better lately, but I think that is due to the weather, not the management. Shut it down and turn it into apartments/condos.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if turning the building into condos is a good idea, as it seems the market is already saturated (from what I understand, based on WY arguments against building new housing). In the same vein, affordable apartments would probably be the way it would go if converted to a true apartment building.
ReplyDeleteYo has a really good point - what to do with the residents? I think whittling out the felons and more dangerous residents, and overall FAR better management and oversight is the way to go - but I don't know offhand how that would be achieved.
It's a shame that they spent so much money updating the Somerset Place's facade.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really believe that any nursing home can evict someone incapable of caring for themselves out into the streets? I would think there would be plenty of liability issues.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say that some of the residents who have been active prostitutes and drug users while staying at Somerset really need to be in a nursing home setting.
Somerset closing would be so great, there's no way it happens. The day this place closes, local dealers lose a few hundred loyal customers and property values along that stretch of sheridan jump, i'm sure the fine folks at Big Chicks / Tweet would be jumping for joy.
ReplyDeleteThe neighborhood has drastically improved since the investigation.. no more scary thugs on Argyle, no aggressive panhandlers, no drinkers in the alley, and no drug dealers on my block!
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely amazing the improvement this investigation has made on the neighborhood! It better close down, in fact, it needs to close down. It's unsafe for the residents of the facility and the neighborhood!
That and I'm already in love with the improvements... I don't want to go backwards!
Somerset's lack of accountability had a horrible effect on the entire community for years. Now suddenly, when forced, they were able to do something about it. I can think of a few other social services that could benefit with some accountability.
ReplyDeleteHM, I think you've hit the nail on the head - when they were forced to address the situation, it seems like there's an immediate improvement externally. I hope the same is happening internally. Note that the improvement has come without shutting any place down.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, does anyone have a link to donations Sommerset has made to local pols?
So, where will these people go if they close it down? My fear is we are going to have more homeless people with no medication on the streets. I have a feeling that crime, urinating in public, drinking in public, panhandling, etc is goignt o increase. If you know the history of the mental health field in Chicago, you know that the way uptown became the "dumping ground" was when the state hospital opened up the back doors in the late 60's early 70's. If they dont have a plan for the people living there, it will not get better---only worse.
ReplyDeleteI recall hearing the same sense of panic when Salvation Army closed and people swore the homeless population sleeping outside would soar. It didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe Somerset will close but I'm delighted that they have the threat of closure looming over them. Perhaps they will start doing a better job. It had to get to this level to get their attention.