See full coverage of abuse, cover-ups at Choate
Read the investigative stories on the abuse of patients and the cover-ups by staff at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna, Illinois.
(10) updates to this series since Updated
Consequences are few as reports of heinous abuse continue to pile up at Choate.
For decades, officials have urged reforms at the facility for people with mental and developmental disabilities. But it still has more allegations of abuse and neglect than any in Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker resisted, but did not rule out, a call to close Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois after reporters found widespread problems.
No one was charged when staff were caught on tape threatening violence against a Choate resident who has developmental disabilities. New reporting shows a culture of cover-ups at the facility.
The newly released report from an Illinois Department of Health Services watchdog revealed a code of silence at the Choate mental health center where staff abused and neglected patients.
For years, residents at Choate received scant treatment for their developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, then faced felonies for lashing out at staff.
The official cited investigations into Choate, a center for people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities, where workers lied or conspired to thwart patient abuse inquiries.
Newly obtained documents show "a brazenness and sense of impunity … that must be combatted" at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center. The governor has said Choate must be reformed.
News reporting put a spotlight on the problems at Choate, officials said, and it’s time to improve conditions for residents with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses.
The legislation, spurred by a news investigation, allows workers to be barred from health care jobs for obstructing investigations into staff misconduct. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bill Friday.
Multiple efforts have been made to restore the 20-day deadline for detainees unfit to stand trial to transferred to a state treatment center.