In just one year, state and federal fines against the four nursing homes in Champaign County nearly tripled from $117,401 to $334,015, according to Medicare and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The county’s four nursing homes are Clark Lindsey, Haven of Champaign, Accolade Healthcare of Savoy and Country Health.
Among the four facilities, only one has an overall rating of higher than one star out of a possible five on the federal Medicare website. The website rates facilities based on health inspections, staffing, quality measures and an overall score.
The Illinois Department of Public Health issues quarterly violation reports, which include fines and list facilities that violate the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. The law was passed to protect residents of nursing homes and establish standards for care.
Some of the most common violations concerned resident care policies, general requirements for nursing and personal care and medication policies. Federal and state inspection reports have specific, more detailed subsets about each topic.
Clark Lindsey, which used to be highly-rated among the nursing homes, received the most in fines in 2025, totaling about $173,000.
None of the four nursing homes returned requests for comments or answered questions about the inspection reports and violations.
Nonprofit Advocates for Aging Care, formed in May 2023, with support from the University of Illinois, Carle Hospital and more, began the process of building a new nursing home to deal with what organizers said is the most glaring problem in the county.
“We only have 60% of the beds that we need,” Cathy Emanuel, the committee chair of the nonprofit, said in an interview with CU-CitizenAccess. “We are the most underserved county of any in the State of Illinois.”
A 2024 needs assessment conducted by the organization found Champaign County has 411 beds available — far short of the projected need for 721. That means there’s a need for at least 310 beds in the county.
Emanuel said the organization recently agreed with a developer on a 120-bed unit. She said she hopes to start construction by fall 2026 and be open by the spring 2028.
The new facility will be a Green House nursing home, a type of long-term skilled nursing facility that looks and feels more like a typical residential home. The model is intended to create a better environment for the residents as they get more personalized care.
“They’re more in tune with what that elder or resident needs,” Emanuel said. “It provides a very different way of providing the care … The staff turnover is substantially lower in Green Houses than (in a) traditional nursing facility.”
Staffing issues plague three of the nursing homes in Champaign County, which have a one- or two-star rating for staffing.
Ryan Gannaway, the regional ombudsman for long-term care in Champaign County, said many nursing homes use agencies to fill their staffing needs. The employees’ lack of knowledge about their patients can lead to worse service than provided by nurses who have been there longer, he said.
Clark Lindsey fined the most by state inspectors
2025 state fines: $39,200 | 2025 federal fines: $129,850
Last year, Clark Lindsey received the most state fines of the four facilities by far, with 11 fines totaling $39,200.
Clark Lindsey did not return calls for a request for comment.
A $25,000 fine was imposed in the third quarter because of the lack of an infection prevention program and the nursing home failing to “develop and implement a comprehensive care plan” for a resident.
Inspection reports showed the facility didn’t help a resident keep the highest possible standard of living while at the nursing home, which means the facility allowed a resident to worsen physically, mentally or psychologically.
Clark Lindsey incurred smaller fines due to the same problem of letting residents’ conditions worsen.
The facility also received about $130,000 in federal fines in 2025, after not receiving any federal fines the previous two years. It was also cited for abuse in 2025, according to federal Medicare inspection records.
Clark Lindsey also had an increase in health deficiencies from 2024 to 2025. Deficiencies are identified in the inspection records and take into account different areas of health and safety, such as quality of life, freedom from abuse, resident rights and infection control.
The facility had 25 recorded deficiencies in 2025, the most by any of the four nursing homes. It’s a major increase from 2024 and 2023, when it had three and four, respectively.
Twelve of the deficiencies were for freedom from abuse, neglect or exploitation and quality of life and care — about half of overall deficiencies.
Accolade Healthcare receives most federal fines in past three years
2025 state fines: $19,100 | 2025 federal fines: $99,450
Accolade Healthcare of Savoy was also cited for abuse in its inspections and was fined $19,100 in 2025, an increase of about $17,000 from the year before.
A larger fine of $12,500 was given in the first quarter of the year, partly because the nursing home failed to have written policies about the services it offers. The other part of the fine was because the nursing home didn’t notify a resident’s physician about an “accident, injury, or significant change” in the resident’s condition.
An employee at Accolade Healthcare of Savoy said on the phone in May that there was no one present to answer questions.
The facility was formerly called Champaign Urbana Nursing and Rehab before being acquired in 2023 by Accolade Healthcare, which operates seven facilities across central Illinois.
The facility received $278,000 in federal fines — the most of the four nursing homes from 2023 through 2025. About $100,000 of those fines were issued in 2025.
However, its total health deficiencies decreased from 2022 to December 2024, the last recorded health inspection date. Accolade Healthcare of Savoy incurred 20 health deficiencies in 2024, down from 28 the year before.
Most of the violations related to quality of life and care, with at least eight deficiencies.
Country Health fined least by state in 2025
2025 state fines: $16,300 | 2025 federal fines: $0
Country Health Care and Rehab, located in Gifford, Ill., has a three-star rating and received the least amount of total fines in the past three years, about $94,000.
In 2025, the facility only received $16,300 in state fines, but received $73,353 in federal fines in 2024. Health employee declined to comment, saying they weren’t familiar with the fines or inspection data.
State fines in 2025 were imposed because it didn’t have a comprehensive plan, nor did it have written policies that outlined the services it offered. Inspection reports noted Country Health failed to adopt written policies surrounding the use of drugs and medications.
It also failed to consult a pharmaceutical advisory committee on medication policies. The committee must be composed of at least one licensed pharmacist, one physician, the administrator and the director of nursing, reports said.
Country Health was one of two facilities that had more health deficiencies in 2025 than the previous two years. Country Health had 17 deficiencies this past year, up from 13 in 2024 and 15 in 2023.
The majority of its deficiencies are similar to those of the other facilities; they are related to quality of life and care.
Haven fined the least in 2025, but deficiencies more common
2025 state fines: $11,000 | 2025 federal fines: $19,115
Haven of Champaign received $11,000 in state fines in 2025, the lowest among the four facilities that year.
Haven of Champaign did not return calls for a request for comment.
The facility is operated by one of the newer nursing home companies in the county.
Illini Heritage Rehab and Healthcare was a nursing home located in Champaign until 2024, when records on the Illinois Secretary of State website show that the owners filed for bankruptcy and closed their doors. According to property records on the Champaign County website, the property was bought by CTR Partnerships, a subsidiary of CareTrust REIT, a company that buys and leases healthcare real estate.
Haven Healthcare, which is based in Evanston, Ill., took up residence in the building and opened Haven of Champaign. The company has nine other nursing homes in central and southern Illinois.
State fines were issued for a multitude of different violations, including failing to have written policies surrounding the prevention and control of “infectious agents and healthcare-associated infections.”
Haven of Champaign has the worst ratings among the four nursing homes — only one star across all measures. The Medicare ratings include the overall rating and the specific ratings for health inspections, staff and quality measures.
The facility only has 60 beds, the third-fewest in the county.
However, Haven of Champaign had the second-highest health deficiencies among the four nursing homes.
It had 23 deficiencies in 2025, a decrease from the previous two years where it had 33 and 42 in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The majority of its violations concerned quality of life and care.