Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) recently signed into law new nursing home safety regulations that aim to end the pattern of violence in that state’s facilities, according to local news reports.

The new regulations will toughen existing criminal background check requirements and psychological screenings for residents. Potentially dangerous residents will be placed in more secure wings of nursing facilities, according to the Chicago Tribune. The number of state nursing home inspectors will expand under the law, from 146 to 217 by July 2011. That is a ratio of one inspector per 500 nursing home beds.

Under the law, mentally ill nursing home residents could undergo screening to be transferred to smaller, community-based care programs. Recently, for-profit nursing homes in the state came under fire for using “scare tactics” to intimidate those residents into staying at the nursing facilities. (McKnight’s, 7/26/10)