Belmont Nursing Home v. Illinois Dept. of Public Aid

• Decision Date: 13 August 1982
• Docket Number: No. 82-475,82-475
• Citation: 64 Ill.Dec. 260,108 Ill.App.3d 660,439 N.E.2d 511
• Parties: , 64 Ill.Dec. 260 BELMONT NURSING HOME, a Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC AID and Jeffrey C. Miller, Director; Illinois Department of Public Health and William L. Kempiners, Director, Defendants- Appellants.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 511

439 N.E.2d 511

108 Ill.App.3d 660, 64 Ill.Dec. 260

BELMONT NURSING HOME, a Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC AID and Jeffrey C. Miller Director; Illinois Department of Public Health and William L. Kempiners, Director Defendants- Appellants.

No. 82-475.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Fifth Division.

Aug. 13, 1982.

[64 Ill.Dec. 261] Tyrone C. Fahner, Atty. Gen. (Kathleen M. Lien, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for defendants-appellants

Klafter, Burke & Nathan, Chicago (Edward M. Burke, Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

MEJDA, Justice:

Plaintiff, Belmont Nursing Home, filed a complaint for administrative review in the circuit court, seeking to reverse the administrative decision of the defendants to terminate and not renew its Medicaid certification. Plaintiff filed with the complaint a motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to stay enforcement of the administrative decision. The trial court granted the motion and issued an order staying the enforcement of the administrative decision. The instant interlocutory appeal is taken from that order.

The issues presented for review are whether the trial court erred in granting a stay of the administrative decision by: (1) going outside the scope of administrative review; (2) using its own observations as evidence; and (3) not applying equitable requirements for injunctive relief.

On January 5, 1982, plaintiff was notified by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Public Aid of the decision of the Illinois Department of Public Health to terminate and not renew the Medicaid certification of the Belmont Nursing Home due to violations of federal Medicaid regulations (42 C.F.R. § 442 et seq. (1981)) and the Illinois Nursing Home Care Reform Act of 1979 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch. 111 1/2, par. 4151-101 et seq.). Plaintiff requested and received an administrative hearing before both agencies. Following the hearing the Directors of both Departments issued orders affirming the decertification, thereby terminating plaintiff's eligibility to receive funds under the Medicaid program, effective February 8, 1982.

Plaintiff consequently filed the instant action for administrative review under the Administrative Review Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch. 110, par. 264 et seq.) and on February 3, 1982, presented its motion for a "temporary restraining order" seeking to stay enforcement of the administrative decision pending completion of the judicial review. A hearing on the motion commenced on that morning. At this hearing the trial court expressed his intention to view the conditions at the nursing home, stating:

"I will listen to everybody but I will go out there myself this afternoon and I will take a look at the place. And if I think * * * that these people should not be thrown out on the street because of this action, I will rule one way * * * If I feel that these people are better off staying at that home, I will grant your motion and I am going to stop them from cutting off the funds at this time."

After hearing the testimony of three registered nurses offered on behalf of defendants, the court adjourned, and subsequently conducted its own physical inspection of the Belmont Nursing Home during the afternoon.

While at the plaintiff's nursing home, the judge made "speeches" and interviewed patients asking them if they wanted to leave, and inquiring as to how they were being At the morning's hearing, defendants' witnesses had testified regarding the availability of alternative nursing facilities which complied with applicable federal and state standards, and which could accommodate plaintiff's patients. During the court's afternoon inspection, the judge, without notice to defendants, also visited one of the named nursing homes, the Lake View Home. There, the judge inquired as to the availability of patient accommodations and made observations of the facility's relative qualities of cleanliness and habitability in comparison to the plaintiff's nursing home.

[64 Ill.Dec. 262] treated. At one point during his inspection, the judge noted that a heart patient had not received a "cardiogram" as prescribed and ordered it taken as soon as possible. The judge later stated that his visual inspection led him to believe that the nursing home "was not in the condition that was described in the complaint."

On the following day, February 4, 1982, the trial court announced the results of its inspection and issued an order granting the temporary restraining order staying the administrative decision.

OPINION

As a prelude to our discussion of the issues presented herein, it is necessary to examine the nature of the instant order and to identify the statutory basis for the issuance of the order. It is noted that what has been labeled as a "temporary restraining order" has been treated by the parties, for all substantive purposes, as a "stay" order entered pursuant to section 12(1)(a) of the Administrative Review Act. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch. 110, par. 275(1)(a).) This section states that the circuit court shall have the power " * * * upon notice to the agency and good cause shown, to stay the decision of the administrative agency in whole or in part pending final disposition of the case." On appeal, the parties have grounded their contentions with respect to the instant order upon this section. We recognize that the order appealed from is in the nature of a stay of enforcement of the decertification of plaintiff's nursing home. We must further recognize, however, that the administrative decision in this case was...