Nursing Home Official In Colfax Has Been Charged. The administrator of Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Colfax has been charged with failing to report an abuse allegation, triggering an investigation by the state Department of Public Health.
Susan L. Holifield, 50, of Bloomington, was released Friday after posting $100 bond on a misdemeanor warrant. She’s scheduled to enter a plea Jan. 8.
Holifield Failed To Report An Abuse
The charge alleges Holifield failed to notify the Illinois Department of Public Health in June despite having “reasonable cause to believe (a) resident with whom she had direct contact” had been abused at the nursing home. If convicted, she’d face a penalty ranging from a fine to a year in jail.
Holifield’s attorney, David Butler, declined to comment on the case, saying he has yet to review reports from a state police investigation. State police referred questions about the investigation to the Department of Public Health.
Department spokeswoman Tammy Leonard said the agency has cooperated with state police on the case. She said police asked the health department to wait until the criminal investigation was completed before launching its own probe to determine whether the state’s Nursing Home Care Act was violated.
Health investigators went to Heritage Manor in Colfax last week after police finished working the case, Leonard said. She declined to specify the type of abuse that has been alleged at the nursing home. Nor would she say whether staff members or other residents have been accused of abusive acts.
Leonard said the investigation is expected to take at least a couple more weeks.
Heritage Enterprises president and chief executive officer Steve Wannemacher could not be reached for comment Monday.
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