JERSEYVILLE – A Jerseyville nursing home was fined $77,200 after investigators found 23 residents had contracted COVID-19 – and five had died – due to a failure to test for and trace infections.

The Illinois State Department of Health also alleges that the facility failed to prevent falls by two residents and failed to provide necessary treatment for another resident’s pressure ulcers.

Jerseyville Nursing & Rehab Center, 1001 S. State St., was one of five facilities across the state cited for Type AA violations in the second quarter of this year. This is the most serious category of violation, according to the state health department, and means that “a condition or event exists in the facility that proximately caused the death of a resident.”

Nursing homes in Jacksonville, Pittsfield and Winchester were also fined for minor violations, according to the report.

The state completed its review of the Jerseyville facility with 52 residents in March and found that it did not implement infection control measures, including isolation procedures and use of personal protective equipment, to prevent the spread of COVID and “failed to offer and provide COVID vaccines or booster shots.”

According to the final report, no system for testing for the disease or tracing infections has been put in place.

“These failures resulted in 23 residents becoming ill with COVID-19, including five residents who died after a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. … These failures could impact all 52 residents at the facility,” the report said.

A representative of the facility did not respond to a request for comment.

The nursing home was also accused of failing to assess, monitor, administer ordered treatments and provide relief to a resident to prevent pressure ulcers, which resulted in the patient developing “two facility-acquired, ungradable pressure ulcers on … the left and right heels and a Stage II pressure ulcer on the buttocks.”

The facility also failed to provide foot care to another resident – including treatment and consultation with a podiatrist for further treatment – which resulted in the person “experiencing severe pain for a long period of time and having a severely red, swollen and very tender fourth toe or foot,” the state’s report said.

Two other residents reported falls, which the state said were due to a failure to “take progressive measures and provide supervision for fall prevention.” One resident suffered a broken hip and another a broken arm as a result, the report said.

Other facilities accused of the most serious violations included Alden of Watford in Aurora, which was fined $50,000, Aliya of Palos Park, which was fined $52,200, Aperion Care of West Chicago, which was fined $50,000, and St. Anthony’s Nursing and Rehab Center in Rock Island, which was fined $75,000.

According to the Illinois Department of Health, which oversees nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities, 268 reports of violations were issued in the second quarter of this year.

Among them was a $2,200 fine against the Scott County Nursing Center for a Category B violation. This classification indicates that a condition or incident related to the operation and maintenance of a facility “has a high probability of causing more than minimal physical or mental harm to a resident.”

According to the state’s January findings, the facility failed to examine or provide timely treatment to a resident with a broken right collarbone, resulting in the resident “experiencing pain for three days without notification from a physician.”

Due to the nature of the violation, the state said the fine was double the usual amount.

Prairie Village Healthcare Center, 1024 W. Walnut St., was given a Type C violation, the lowest level of violation.

The company was fined $500 after the state found that it failed to timely check the criminal histories of three physician assistants and failed to verify that three nurses had valid nursing licenses before they began work. No fine was imposed for this violation.

Pittsfield Manor, 610 Lowry St. in Pittsfield, was charged with a Type B violation and fined $2,200, double the usual fine, alleging the state failed to investigate a fall and take intervention measures after a resident fell from her chair and suffered a hematoma and other injuries.