It appears the impact of this case is being felt in the McHenry County coroner’s race, according to the Daily Herald.

Democratic challenger David Bachmann claims his five-term Republican opponent Marlene Lantz should have done more to ensure the safety of the victims at Woodstock Residence. Bachmann says the home reported a total of 36 deaths in the years 2004 and 2005 combined. There were the same number of deaths during the first nine months of 2006, he said.

Bachmann, a former funeral home director, contends, “Had Miss Lantz gone out to the nursing home in April or early May, she would have caught this.”

Lantz argued that there was no reason for her office to have been suspicious, as the patients who died were in hospice care or had a terminal illness.

The McHenry County Coroner’s Office exists to provide people of McHenry County with a thorough investigation in the event of a death. The election will be held November 4, 2008.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home investigation impacts coroner race

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According to The Daily Herald, a 15-month investigation into the deaths at the Woodstock Residence in Woodstock, Ill., led to the indictment in April of two nurses – Marty Himebaugh of Lake in the Hills, Ill., and her supervisor, Penny Whitlock of Woodstock, Ill. Himebaugh faces charges of criminal neglect, obtaining morphine by fraud and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. Whitlock was charged with criminal neglect and obstructing justice. Woodstock Residence has since changed management and is now called Crossroads Care Center of Woodstock, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune also states that the health department report does not specifically name Himebaugh or Whitlock, however the criminal indictment suggests that the two nurses are the ones involved in the investigation. An Illinois Department of Public Health report claims Himebaugh administered drugs such as morphine to restless patients to calm them and gave overdoses to others she deemed had lived long enough. The report is based on interviews with coworkers, some of whom voiced concerns as much as six months before Himebaugh was let go in the wake of police investigations.

Whitlock, a former director of nursing at Woodstock Residence, reportedly told Himebaugh, “I don’t care if you’re the angel of death, just don’t let me know about it,” according to The Daily Herald.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home deaths were not merciful

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