Illinois assisted living communities and other facilities defined as healthcare facilities in the state were given broad immunity during the state’s COVID-19 response, and that immunity protects them in ordinary negligence claims, not just those claims directly relating to pandemic care, according to an opinion issued Friday by the state’s high court.
The opinion, filed by a majority of the Illinois Supreme Court, held that all healthcare facilities in Illinois that rendered assistance to the state during the COVID-19 disaster declaration are immune from all claims of negligence that arose during that time, even if the claims had nothing to do with the provision of COVID assistance to the state.
April 1, 2020, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) issued an executive order directing assisted living communities and other healthcare facilities to “render assistance” to the state by providing healthcare services in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Illinois Supreme Court decision stems from wrongful death lawsuits filed against Bria Health Services by the families of five residents of the Bria of Geneva nursing home, which the families said “negligently and willfully” failed to control the spread of COVID-19 in the facility, leading to the deaths of their loved ones.
The lawsuits alleged that the residents were exposed to and contracted COVID-19 due to Bria not properly quarantining symptomatic staff members and residents, as well as a failure to implement effective procedures to maintain hygiene and equipment, including personal protective equipment. Attorneys for the survivors held that the governor only meant for a provider to be protected at the time it was taking specific steps to assist the state, including setting aside beds, stocking extra PPE and otherwise preparing to receive residents/patients.
Bria argued that the governor’s order was broader and intended to cover any provider rendering assistance to the state at any time during the emergency period. Pritzker’s order was extended through May 29, 2020.
The provider argued that it was “rendering assistance” to the state when the residents died, making the community immune from lawsuits for ordinary negligence. Bria said that it was obtaining and preserving PPE, training staff members on the effective and efficient use of PPE, continuing to accept admissions from acute care hospitals and taking steps to prevent, contain and treat the spread of COVID in the nursing home.
The 2nd District Appellate Court of Illinois remanded the case to the circuit court in August 2023 to determine whether Bria qualified for statutory immunity based on whether it was rendering assistance to the state during the pandemic, leading the families to appeal the decision to the state’s high court. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court, remanding the case back to the circuit to determine whether Bria was rendering that assistance.
Some Illinois Supreme Court justices dissented with the majority opinion, however.
“The narrow legal question presented in this appeal is whether healthcare facilities are immunized from negligent conduct that was entirely unrelated to the act of providing COVID assistance to the state,” Justice Joy Cunningham wrote in her dissenting opinion. “By answering yes, the majority bars recovery for any number of deserving plaintiffs throughout the state, for reasons that have nothing to do with the COVID disaster declaration.”
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