CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced on Wednesday that she has filed an injunction against a retirement center in an attempt to keep it from caring for residents as a nursing home.

The Elgin-based Bowes Retirement Center was shut down in September over alleged unlicensed care and safety concerns. Owners Angel & Bell Corporation allegedly did not obtain the proper licensing required by the state's Nursing Home Care Act.

Madigan's office alleges that the retirement center was providing advanced nursing care to residents without the required nursing home license, training or medical requirements. The office also expressed its concerns over the safety and care of its residents.

"For a retirement center to provide this type of serious and complex medical care to residents without having the necessary training and fulfilling all the licensing requirements is dangerous and irresponsible," Madigan said.

"This injunction order will assure that the defendant will never again put elderly and vulnerable residents at such risk."

Madigan is seeking to permanently enjoin the center from reopening. The order also requires the defendant to provide a written report within 30 days of the filing with the names and ages of all residents who moved from the facility after it closed its doors.

The order will also keep the corporation from offering any skilled nursing care or opening any other site in the state without obtaining the correct licensing necessary to open a nursing home.

The injunction filing does not preclude residents or others from pursuing their own claims against the defendant.