The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 3

THE PANTAGRAPH, Monday, Dec. 12, 1988 A3 Area nursing homes score well in guide; but directors give guide scathing review Guide a first step in choosing home SPRINGFIELD The federal Health Care Financing Administration's grading should be no more than a first step in determining whether a nursing home adequately cares for Its residents, agree area, state and federal experts. The three-volume, six-inch thick study of Illinois' 737 nursing homes is an attempt to present preliminary information in an understandable and usable form, administration Director William Roper said in his report. "The primary purpose of this Information Is to provide a solid basis for further, informal inquiry. It is neither the final, definitive word on nursing home performance, nor a guide to answer all questions on selection of a nursing home," he said.

Those shopping for a nursing home should seek additional information, suggests Roper and state and area professionals. That Includes the full Inspection reports prepared annually by the state Department of Public Health. The federal study is simply a compilation of the results of those state inspections. Other possible sources of information include: Social services departments in local hospitals. Nursing home organizations like the American Health Care Association or the American Association of Homes for the Aging.

State nursing home associations like the Illinois Association of Homes for the Aging. City or county welfare departments. Religious groups. Better Business Bureaus, local consumer protection offices, the state Attorney General's consumer protection division and other consumer information groups. Physicians, social workers, clergy and friends or relatives who have placed someone In a nursing home.

Those considering a particular home should conduct their own inspection for comfort and cleanliness, talk to residents and meet with the administrator, director of nursing and director of social services. The federal report suggests: Ask who owns the home; whether It Is approved for participation in Medicaid or Medicare programs; Its history and services. Ask about problems cited in the last state inspection and whether they have been corrected; find out whether there have been any recent punitive actions against the home and how they were resolved. Review the home's admissions policy and agreement; its residents' rights policy; Its daily rates and what is included in those rates. Find out about daily visiting hours and residents' freedom of choice in activities, meals and rising and retiring.

Are meals appetizing? Are substitutions available? Are between-meal snacks available? Is there a residents' council? How about a council family members can participate in? Find out how medical care and direction is provided. Does the home have a medical specialty, and does it meet your resident's needs? Are there physical, speech or occupational therapy programs available? Who determines what drugs are given to residents, and how? How often are drug prescriptions reviewed? How is dental care provided? How many nurses are employed, and how many residents are under each nurse's care? In the final analysis, suggested Admissions Director Martha Buchanan of Bloomington Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, "Does it look like it could be a home? Not a nursing home, but a real home?" DSM cars make 'Car and Driver list Diamond-Star Motors sports car, the Plymouth Laser and the Mitsubishi Eclipse, will be named one of "Car and Driver" magazine's top 10 cars for 1989 In Its January issue. The magazine reviewed the twin cars in its December issue (as did several of the major automotive magazines, including "Road and and the reviews are glowing. The LaserEclipse, reads "Car and Driver's" article on "Ten best," "Is a modestly priced sports coupe with enough performance to embarrass a Porsche 944. Moreover, the car handles well and is uncommonly well appointed Inside.

car is most definitely meant for real drivers." In addition, the Dodge Colt and Mitsubishi Mirage also made the list. Now made in Japan, the twin models are due to be produced at Diamond-Star in 1990. Print left by Carson's done In oil Carson, Pirie, Scott Co. may be leaving Normal, but at least one legacy from the store will remain. The store donated art work to the city depicting historical scenes around the community.

The seven works are on display at Normal's City Hall. They include the Camelback Bridge on Virginia Avenue Just west of Linden Street; the former Dillon Horse Barn on the 100 block of West Phoenix Avenue; Louis Napoleon, a Percheron draft horse bought by the Dillon family In 1858; the Fell Park Water Tower; and the carillon tower at the Immanuel Bible Foundation, 1301 S. Fell Ave. In addition, two structures are pictured that are no longer standing: the Richard Hovey house on the 200 block of West Mulberry Street and the Jesse Fell house at Fell and Irving Street. Loose ends The Twin Cities Ballet's seventh production of "The Nutcracker" was a success, but Its future could depend on something that has nothing to do with dance.

The ballet has a space problem. Specifically, It needs a building to store its large collection of sets and props that play such an Integral part of the annual holiday production. According to Ron Pope, an organizer of the production, the sets and other items are being stored in an outbuilding at a nearby farm. But that's not the kind of "permanent home" the ballet needs, he said, noting that a temperature-controlled environment is important to maintain the sets. Any proposals would be appreciated, he said, adding that the production must keep a close eye on rental costs.

Pope also said that total attendance at this year's four performances of "The Nutcracker" was 4,756, which he said the organization was very pleased with. By DON THOMPSON Springfield bureau chief SPRINGFIELD Central Illinois nursing homes fare generally well In a new federal guide. But that hasn't stopped most of them from complaining about what they say is at best a useless and at worst a misleading attempt to grade nursing homes. The guide is "a bad attempt at a good idea. It was well-intentioned," said Joe Warner, vice chairman for governmental relations of the nursing homes' Illinois Health Care Association.

That was the nicest thing he had to say about it. "Whatever they (consumers) do, they should not use this as a guide on which nursing home to choose. All this does is confuse them," he said. "The only way to decide is to visit the home. That's your best guide." The federal Health Care Financing Administration assembled the guide from annual inspections conducted by state public health workers using federal survey forms.

Mike Moran, who directed the report's preparation, said numerous outside consultants helped select what was included in what is intended to be an annual guide. The report is billed as "a ready source of understandable information about the population and performance of nursing homes." In addition to background information on each home, it lists 32 "selected performance indicators" from among 500 on the survey standards which each home either met or failed to meet. But the data is from a single day's inspection; is often more than a year old; was conducted by one of more than 3,000 inspectors nationwide, each with his or her own subjective judgment; and includes no scale to judge the relative severity of each defect. "It's just such a blanket statement, it doesn't really tell you what's wrong with the home," said Tim Searby, administrator of Christian Nursing Home in Lincoln. For instance, life-threatening kitchen contamination is treated the same as a piece of paper on the floor or an employee without a hairnet, said Warner, the president of Bloomington-based Heritage Enterprises.

Heritage owns 10 homes in Bloomington, Normal, El Paso, Streator, Springfield, Gibson City, LaSalle-Peru, Mendota, Mount Sterling and Beardstown and manages the DeWitt County Nursing Home in Clinton. "That report is so misleading it is pathetic," said Ann Klein, administrator of Livingston Manor, a county-owned home near Pontiac. Her home was marked down for not meeting a personal hygiene requirement during a Sept. 9, 1987, inspection. The cause was two women who had facial hair, she said.

"All you need is one thing like that and you're not in compliance. You could have one person that had dirty fingernails and be written up for not being in compliance." Livingston Manor, along with several other area homes and nearly 80 percent of homes statewide, failed to meet guidelines for sanitary storage, preparation and distribution of food to residents. Illinois Public Health spokesman Tom Schafer said that was because of stricter food-handling guidelines being enforced by state inspectors. But the category could include anything from cockroaches to a refrigerator improperly set by one degree. Despite what nursing home managers complain are nit-picking guidelines, the federal guide reports only four instances of mental or physical abuse among Illinois intermediate care facilities and none among skilled-care facilities.

Yet 90 abuse complaints were filed with the state Public Health Department in the first three of infection. Ominous as that may sound, it meant that at the time of the March 10 inspection the center failed to do a culture around a patient's colostomy opening, said Nursing Director Kate Rosado. Industry-spokesman Warner said he is much more concerned that care might decline at Illinois nursing homes because of insufficient reimbursement through the state Medicaid system. It costs Heritage Enterprises about $54 a day to care for each resident, but Medicaid pays only about $40 a day. The deficit is passed on to private-pay residents.

In addition, the Medicaid reimbursement cycle has slowed as the state uses the money to pay other bills, in essence borrowing from health care providers. Homes with a large percentage of Medicaid residents can't afford to continue and must cut care, sell out or close, Warner said. "I'm very, very concerned for the industry," he said. A renewed effort for full state funding will be launched next spring, Warner said. months of this year alone, said Schafer.

So even the few abusive homes go unreported in the federal guide, said Warner: "You cannot tell from this what is a bad nursing home." Amidst the cloud of criticism, one area nursing home found a silver lining. Bloomington Nursing and Rehabilitation Center distributed a press release saying it is "the only long-term care center in Blooming-ton-Normal that met all Illinois Department of Public Health standards for the sanitary storage, refrigeration, preparation and distribution of food." It also intends to use the federal guide in its marketing efforts, said Admissions Director Martha Buchanan. She called the guide "a wonderful place to start. Those standards are very, very strict." However, she said, "I don't think any decision should be based on that survey." The nursing and rehab center didn't score 100 percent in the federal guide: it was marked down for failing to act to prevent the spread It was the bet that wouldn't go away. Mayors Paul Harmon of Normal and Robert Anstine of Macomb have institutionalized their bet over Illinois State University's football game against Western Illinois University.

The winner of this year's bet Anstine got an oak tree for Macomb's Oakwood Cemetery, while the winner of future bets will be entitled to the "Johnny Appleseed Trophy Plaque." The winner will get the plaque a year late, though, because it will be presented during halftime at the following contest between the two teams. Just in case you're wondering, the plaque is likely to spend time in both cities. Over the last decade, the two teams are tied at five games apiece. She's only six, but Jackie Whittet might already be on her way toward an acting career. Jackie, daughter of Twin City natives Larry and Melissa Whittet, now of Granbury, Texas, is a finalist in the Junior America State Show, a contest that picks a winner based on photographs and videos.

Advertising executives pay close attention to the show, which often provides young actors for commercials. Jackie, who will compete March 11 In Houston, Is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Whittet, 102 W. Poplar Normal, and Mr.

and Mrs. Daniel Gehrt, 3 Dunbar Court, Bloomington. Despite low poll standings Sawyer throws hat into Chicago mayoral ring CHICAGO (AP) Mayor Eugene Sawyer, a soft-spoken alderman elevated to the city's top job after the death of Harold Washington, yesterday launched his campaign to retain the post against a field of challengers and low standings in the polls. "I look for ward to the con test. I know won be easy." Sawyer, 54, told The other announced Democratic candidates are Aldermen Lawrence Bloom, Edward Burke and Danny Davis and former state Sen.

James Taylor. Former Chicago Parks Superintendent Edmund Kelly withdrew from the Democratic field the day after Daley announced his candidacy and the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday said Burke would become the second white to quit the race. Edward Howlett, son of a former Democratic secretary of state, is the only announced GOP candidate. Lotto jackpot up to $17 million CHICAGO (AP) Nobody matched the six numbers picked in the state's weekly Lotto drawing," and the jackpot will rise to $17 million, Illinois State Lottery officials said yesterday. Saturday's drawing was the second in a row that had no grand" prize winner, said Lottery Director Sharon Sharp.

The numbers were 2, 18, 23, 24, 46 and 51. ernors State University in suburban University Park. "I don't put much stock in December polls when the election is the last day of February." Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court set April 4 as the date for a special election to fill the remainder of the second term of Washington, the city's first black mayor, who died Nov. 25, 1987. The Democratic primary is scheduled for Feb.

28. Green said Sawyer has between $2 million and $3 million in a campaign war chest. "He's got a large kitty, so obviously he's going to be able to get his message across," the analyst said. During a raucous City Council meeting last December, Sawyer, a black, was elected by fellow aldermen to succeed Washington until the special election. "Sawyer's being mayoral," Green said.

"He's showing he can do the job and he's comfortable in the office. He's done much better in the last six to eight months than he did in the first four months." Sawyer indicated he was not worried about the poll. "As I travel around the city, I have great, great support from people," he said before the scheduled announcement. The Democratic contest has generally been tantamount to winning the general election in Chicago's recent history. But that changed somewhat in 1983 when a white Republican candidate made a strong showing in a losing effort against Washington.

The poll, published in Sunday's editions of the Chicago Tribune, showed Daley, the son of legendary Mayor Richard J. Daley, who ruled Chicago for more than 20 years, beating Sawyer by a 59 percent to 30 percent margin. The telephone survey of 1,038 registered Chicago voters showed Daley beating Alderman Timothy Evans, Sawyer's chief rival for the support of black voters, by a 56-34 margin. Jesse Jackson would give Daley the toughest opposition in the mayoral race, garnering 40 percent to Daley's 52, according to the poll, which was conducted Dec. 2-5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Jackson Saturday said he was not a candidate, despite the poll. about 700 sup porters at a ral- Sawyer ly in the ballroom of a downtown Chicago hotel. "I need your help and you're hard work and your prayers." Sawyer's candidacy began as a new poll showed him trailing Cook County State's Attorney Richard M. Daley in a one-on-one race for the Democratic nomination. But political analysts said the poll was very early and did not mean much.

"Sawyer is just starting his campaign," said Paul Green, a professor of political science at Gov- The red ribbons hanging from the door handles of Johnson Transfer Co. trucks are more than just window dressing for Christmas. The Bloomington-based firm is participating in Project Red Ribbon, a nationwide public awareness campaign conducted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The ribbons are meant to remind other motorists of the dangers of drinking and driving during the holiday season. Johnson Transfer, 401 S.

Center and an agent for Allied Van Lines, has the ribbons on each of its 29 trucks and other vehicles, according to company President Don Maaks. But the program is not limited to firms such as Johnson's. MADD hopes that all motorists will tie ribbons to their cars the more the merrier this Christmas will be if deaths and injuries due to drunken driving can be reduced. In keeping with its motto "Friendship in Youth," the Bloomington Optimist's Club will again help out with the Western Avenue Community Center Christmas party. The club will prepare bags of candy, fruit and toys, then distribute them to children at the Dec.

16 party. And, naturally, Santa also will make an appearance at the party, for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. Sheryl Ratley of Bloomington and Wanda Gehrt of Normal were smiling last week as they tackled their Christmas shopping with new spirit. Ms. Ratley, 157 N.

Hershey Road, and Ms. Gehrt, 5 Thomas Drive, each won $500 in gift certificates as initial winners in the Great Christmas Give Away sponsored by the Downtown Normal Business Association. Their names were drawn from thousands of entries in a Dec. 3 drawing. The downtown merchants will conclude their Christmas shopping promotion Dec.

17, when two more winners of $500 in gift certificates will be drawn. Unlike George Bush, McLean County Coroner William Anderson can already start planning his '92 administration. The five-term coroner recently was elected third vice president of the Illinois Association of County Officials, meaning he'll keep moving up the ladder until he heads the organization in 1992. Anderson also has been active as chairman of the association's "County to County" magazine, a publication for the elected and appointed officials of the state. And next year, he'll be the organization's legislative chairman.

Second vote a charm for Delavan tax-hike backers more time to continue to lobby legislators for statewide tax in-creases to fund downstate education. "I think the time has come for something to be done at the state level in order for downstate education to continue at its current state and improve." The increase in taxes will be pay-. able in June of 1989, Dutton said. The increase means the owner of a $60,000 home will pay about $200 more yearly and the owner of a 100 acre-farm about $225 more. "I feel the margin of victory based upon the number of votes cast should help the district deliver a quality education to the students," Dutton said.

The tax increase will allow the school board to balance its 1988-89 budget and to pay off $34,000 of the debt accumulated over the past four years. Dutton said the total accumulated debt for the school district is more than $300,000. Dutton also said that with the approval of this tax increase, education proponents will have result was 9 in favor and 3 against. Saturday's special election came after judges in Tazewell and Logan county approved the election. The original election that approved the tax increase in March was nullified because some of the ballots did not include the education referendum question.

School Superintendent Richard Dutton said he was pleased with the vote and especially pleased with the number of voters who participated. By TOM ERDMANN Pantagraph staff DELAVAN Residents of the Delavan Community Unit School District 703 have again approved a tax increase to cut the district's debt and balance next school year's budget. The result of the Saturday vote was 608 to 546 for the $1 per $100 assessed valuation increase in the education fund. The district is mostly made up of Tazewell County residents, but of the 12 people who voted in Logan County, the.