The town of Cicero on Friday filed an emergency motion Friday to force the state to enforce COVID-19 safety regulations at City View MultiCare Center — or transfer all residents from a nursing home where 10 people have died and 216 have been sickened.
The motion seeking an temporary restraining order and injunction wants City View “to immediately come into compliance with all federal, state and local rules, orders and regulations related to COVID-19.”
That includes having City View residents be transferred to an alternate care hospital or requiring City View to separate and isolate all residents that have tested positive, for all staff and employees to wear personal protective equipment and for residents to do the same. The motion also seeks daily inspections by the town of Cicero and the public health department.
The town names the long-term care facility, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Gov. J.B. Pritzker in its motion.
The filing claims the home has “disregarded COVID-19 orders and guidelines and has ignored the Town’s repeated requests with said orders and guidelines,” resulting in 10 deaths — nine residents and one employee — and 216 cases.
“Despite letters, site visits, Code citations, complaints to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and continuous increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths at its facility, City View simply refuses to comply with the directives, orders, and guidelines meant to save lives and protect the spread of COVID-19,” the suit says.
Besides the state regulations issued in executive orders, Town President Larry Dominick has also issued executive orders for the town that require that law enforcement and health officials wear masks.
There are 325 residents and more than 300 staffers at the 500-bed home, according to the suit. The filing claims the town has observed a pattern of employees and residents not adhering to safety guidelines set forth by orders from Cicero and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The Cicero Health Department has issued 10 recent citations to City View, mostly for issues regarding the use of masks, gloves and other PPE, or protective personal equipment, town of Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania told the Sun-Times this week.
City View has been quarantining all patients positive for COVID-19 to three floors of the facility, Hanania said.
