State officials have started a process to shut down Albany Care, the psychiatric rehabilitation center at 901 Maple Ave., alleging facility staff failed to take necessary actions to address a resident’s worsening health and numerous hospitalizations in the months before her death in the building.
Sonia Moreno, 60, died Jan. 13 after she collapsed and stopped breathing near the building’s first-floor elevator. Facility staff and emergency responders were unable to resuscitate her, and she was declared dead at 3:15 p.m., according to the Evanston Police Department’s death investigation report.
The date, time and narrative of Moreno’s death in the police report match the main incident investigated and cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in its April 28 Notice of Revocation to Albany Care, which the RoundTable obtained along with supporting documents through a public records request. This notice put Albany Care on a “Level 6” sanction, the most severe violation possible for specialized mental health rehabilitation facilities (SMHRFs), and began the process of revoking its license…