Unlicensed Gurnee assisted-living facility faces more problems

An assisted-living facility that's been operating unlicensed for three years must cross a new hurdle in its quest to remain open in Gurnee.

Village board members last week gave Theresa's Home Care an extra 60 days to secure permits and perform upgrades to a single-family house in the Chelsey Crossing subdivision that would allow it to receive a state assisted-living facility license.

Now, Theresa's Home Care also must pay $1,400 in fees and fines to the Illinois secretary of state's office to regain its status as a limited-liability corporation — a necessity before the business can obtain the Gurnee building permits it needs to meet the 60-day deadline, the village attorney said this week.

Theresa's Home Care was listed as a properly registered state business in village documents in January 2011 when trustees granted a special-use permit allowing it to continue in the residential subdivision.

However, Gurnee officials were unaware the state hasn't recognized the facility as a limited-liability corporation since December 2010 until notified by the Daily Herald on Jan. 27.

Village Attorney Bryan Winter said he concluded Theresa's Home Care must pay all state fees and fulfill any related requirements before a permit can be issued for needed building upgrades.

If the state matter is cleared, Winter said, it would be as if Theresa's Home Care always had the proper status as claimed on village documents when trustees granted the special-use permit in 2011.

“We want compliance,” he said. “We have an expectation they are in good standing.”

Mayor Kristina Kovarik said the village could be forced to shut the operation if it doesn't meet the 60-day deadline for compliance.

“No one wants to place these elderly people at risk,” Kovarik said.

Secretary of state records show the agency involuntarily dissolved Theresa's Home Care as a limited-liability corporation Dec. 10, 2010. Spokesman Dave Druker said the action was taken because the business didn't comply with annual requirements.

Druker said Tuesday the operation must pay $1,400 in overdue fees and penalties to regain proper registration for 2011 and 2010. He said updated paperwork and the fee for 2012 are not yet due.

As set by state statute, the annual LLC fee is $250. Along with the two missed annual fee payments, Druker said, Theresa's Home Care owes $400 in penalties and $500 to be reinstated as a limited-liability corporation.

Gurnee Community Development Director David Ziegler said an attorney for Theresa's Home Care has been alerted that the owner's personal liability for the business is increased until the state requirements are met. The assisted-living facility's lawyer, John Wojteczko, hasn't returned messages seeking comment.

Theresa's Home Care operates in a 6,000-square-foot, single-family house on Cunningham Court near Hunt Club Road. On Jan. 24, 2011, the village board approved the special-use permit on the condition the installation of indoor sprinklers and other improvements occur within a year.

But officials said nothing has been done because owner Theresa Bicok waited until the last minute to seek permits for construction plans that were substantially different from what the village approved. Bicok couldn't be reached Tuesday.

Officials said the facility opened in January 2009 without proper state or village permits. Theresa's Home Care became known after Gurnee paramedics were called there in May 2009 and learned it was unlicensed.

Theresa's Home Care filed documents creating a business entity on June 22, 2009, secretary of state records show.

Under the special permit granted by Gurnee, Theresa's Home Care may serve 20 to 24 clients. At the Jan. 23 village board meeting, Trustee Kirk Morris and Ziegler speculated on the number of assisted-living clients at the house before the 60-day extension was granted.

Bicok was in the village hall gallery when she informed the officials she had eight clients. Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said the agency was informed by telephone earlier in the day Jan. 23 that no residents lived at Theresa's Home Care.

Arnold said a state nursing inspector didn't find any clients at the facility during an unannounced visit Tuesday.

Illinois issued the first assisted-living licenses in 2002. Public health department officials at the time said such businesses were largely unregulated and licensing protected residents with a consistent set of rules and procedures.

An assisted-living establishment is supposed to provide community-based residential care for at least three unrelated adults who need help with basics such as eating, dressing or bathing, according to the state. At least 80 percent of the residents must be 55 years or older.