State investigating Prospect Heights nursing home resident’s death

The Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating the death of a Prospect Heights man struck and killed by a car late Tuesday night after walking away from his nursing home.

Department spokeswoman Melanie Arnold said the investigation, which is routine in a nursing home-related deaths, will take up to 30 days and could lead to citations or fines.

“The point of the investigation is to make sure they are in compliance, that there are no violations of the Nursing Home Care Act,” Arnold said.

William Spears, 78, died Tuesday night from injuries suffered after he walked out of the Emeritus at Prospect Heights nursing home where he’d lived for seven years and was struck by a car while crossing Euclid Avenue, near Hancock Lane.

Police said Spears was seen about 11 p.m. walking with the help of a walker across lanes of traffic on Euclid when he was hit by an SUV. The driver, an Arlington Heights man, did not see Spears, police said.

An official at Emeritus could not be reached immediately for comment Thursday, but the facility issued a statement Wednesday from Executive Director Basya Schwarcz.

It indicates Spears left the residence at 700 E. Euclid about 11 p.m. to take a walk. It does not say whether Spears was free to leave the home whenever he wished, but said the home “provides lifestyle and care options that enable seniors to live as independently and comfortably as possible, with the ability to make their own choices as to how they live their day.”

Prospect Heights Police Chief Jamie Dunne, whose department is looking into the circumstances of how Spears left the home, said Thursday his detectives were planning to meet with Mount Prospect investigators, who investigated the crash, to share information.

If the public health department finds violations, Arnold said, it will issue a report and determine a penalty. The home would have an opportunity to contest the findings through a hearing process, she added.