Helia Southbelt Healthcare: Broken Lift Batteries - IL
"That is dead," the aide told an inspector. "I think the battery needs charged. We were supposed to be getting new batteries. We have been having issues with these lifts for a few weeks now."
A few weeks. That was how the aide described it. The paperwork told a longer story.
Resident Council meeting notes from May 27, 2025 — nearly three months before that conversation — listed "chargers for mechanical lifts" as an item brought to the facility's attention. Residents had already raised the issue by late spring. It was still unresolved in late August.
At Helia Southbelt Healthcare, the people who rely on mechanical lifts are not people who can wait. Residents who require a mechanical lift for transfers have limited ability to move on their own. When the lift doesn't work, they don't get moved, or they get moved unsafely, or they wait for someone to find a lift that functions. The inspection report does not describe what happened to specific residents during the months the batteries were failing. It does not need to. The population that uses mechanical lifts is, by definition, among the most physically vulnerable in any nursing home.
On August 22, an inspector spoke with the administrator. The administrator's answer was direct, and it explained a great deal. "We do not have a policy on batteries for the equipment, like the mechanical lift," the administrator said.
No policy. Not a policy that had lapsed, or a policy that staff weren't following, or a policy under revision. No policy at all — for a piece of equipment that the facility's own written procedures describe as something that "must be able to accommodate the weight of the residents" and that exists specifically to provide "safety and security for the resident and nursing personnel" during transfers.
The facility did have a Resident Rights policy, dated November 2018, that promised residents dignity and respect and equal access to quality care. It promised that the facility would care for residents "in a manner that promotes your quality of life." That policy had been in place for seven years. The battery maintenance policy for the equipment that physically moves residents from place to place did not exist.
The timing of what followed is worth noting. The Mechanical Lift Policy on file carries a revision date of September 8, 2025. The inspection that caught the battery problem concluded on August 26. The policy was revised thirteen days later.
Federal inspectors cited the facility under F0676, which covers a resident's right to activities of daily living, including the right to receive assistance with transfers. The citation was tagged at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting a few residents. That is among the lower severity levels in the federal citation system, and it reflects what inspectors could document, not necessarily the full scope of what residents experienced over the months the lifts were unreliable.
What the record shows is a gap that stretched from at least late May to late August. Residents flagged the charger problem at a council meeting in the spring. The facility did not resolve it before summer ended. A nursing aide, on a Tuesday morning in August, summed up the situation in five words: "That is dead. I think."
She wasn't certain about the battery. She was certain it wasn't working. She knew new batteries were supposed to have arrived. They hadn't.
Mechanical lifts are not optional equipment for the residents who need them. They are the difference between a safe transfer and an unsafe one, between getting up and staying in bed, between a facility that can deliver on its written promises about dignity and quality of life and one that cannot. When the batteries die and no policy exists to ensure they get replaced, the promise and the practice are not the same thing.
The administrator knew there was no policy. The residents knew the chargers weren't working. The lift sat dead on the floor.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Helia Southbelt Healthcare from 2025-08-26 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: October 4, 2026 · Our methodology
HELIA SOUTHBELT HEALTHCARE in BELLEVILLE, IL was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 26, 2025.
"That is dead," the aide told an inspector.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.