Interviews with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center in Lexington Kentucky staff including aides, licensed staff and housekeepers revealed that no one recognized the photos and recordings as abuse and as a result did not report the incident to management.

The nursing home received a Type A citation from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for not enforcing its policy prohibiting staff members from having cell phones in resident-care areas. A Type A citation is the most serious citation a nursing home can receive. “The facility failed to have an effective system in place to ensure (that) residents were protected from abuse,” the citation said. “The facility’s failure placed residents in imminent danger.” The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services found residents to be in immediate jeopardy and imposed a $6,550 per day fine on the nursing home.

A spokesperson with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center said the facility conducted an internal investigation and as a result fired several employees who participated in the activities. Management also said it is working with state and federal agencies to insure that residents are protected. The facility’s “foremost concern is the care and protection of its residents, and we have taken this matter very seriously.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home staff fired for taking inappropriate photos of residents

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, are often caused by unrelieved pressure to any part of the body. Though easily prevented by turning a patient every two hours, if left untreated, bedsores can be fatal.

Researchers pulled from two data sources – the national repository of the Minimum Data Set, a federally mandated report of health status, function and demographics on all nursing home residents; and the Oscar database system, which collects information on patients and nursing homes through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The research included nursing home residents who were 65 years old and older and living in nursing homes in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona or Colorado.

The study was led by Michael Gerardo, adjunct assistant professor of community health at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Co-authors included Joan Teno, M.D., professor of community health and medicine and end-of-life care expert, and Vincent Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health. Mor also served as lead author for a 2007 study that suggested blacks were more likely to live in poor-quality nursing homes than whites.

The researchers concluded that more research was needed to determine the implications of their findings.

Source: Brown University

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Study: Hispanic nursing homes provide lower quality of care

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Silver Lake Care Center

Investigators cited the nursing home in February saying it failed “to screen for, prevent, identify, report and investigate abuse.” Former director of nursing Terri Conley said she resigned from the home in January because the home was severely understaffed. “If you don’t have enough staff, the residents are not going to get the care they need,” she told the newspaper. “Families of the residents noticed and came to me asking why there wasn’t enough staff.”

Several families have filed suit against the home for neglect and wrongful death, and a caretaker at the home, Jason Pearl, was charged last month with abuse. He is currently in Washington County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month.

The nursing home is also facing a litany of financial woes. The Housing and Urban Development’s Public Affairs Office said that an FHA-insured mortgage at was in default, which prompted the home’s closing, and at least one staffing agency is reportedly suing the nursing home owner for nonpayment.

Eddie Martin of Sallisaw is listed as a part owner in the home. Martin also holds an interest in seven other homes in Oklahoma, three of which no longer receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars because of serious code violations. A fourth home is currently under order to clear up deficiencies by May 8 or lose its federal funding as well.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › OK nursing home closes amid allegations of abuse, neglect

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Earlier this week the sisters were arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of one count of operating and/or maintaining an assisted living facility without a license. If convicted, the sisters each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to All Headline News.

The arrests followed an investigation by law enforcement and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team also was involved in the investigation.

Earlier this year, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration sent notices to each of the homes requiring the facilities to close. The women stand trial in the Judicial Curcuit Court on April 17th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The announcement was spurred by a recent state and Federal Center for Medicare-Medicaid Services inspection that found the center in violation of physician services, nursing services and medical records.

The inspection also raised questions about several patients whose weight had dropped dramatically. A spokesperson for the home says weight fluctuation among the elderly is not uncommon and oftentimes is unavoidable.

The state also claims a nurse did not keep proper medical records on a patient and didn’t notify the patient’s physician about problems with that patient’s health, which put that patient in immediate jeopardy.

Quality Care Health Center was ordered to put together a corrective action plan, which already has been approved by the state. The state will now perform another inspection of the facility. If no deficiencies are noted and the problems have in fact been addressed, the state will lift the suspension and Quality Care will be able to admit new residents. However, if the state inspection finds that action has not been taken to correct the problems that caused the admissions ban at the home by April 3, the Federal government will halt Medicare and Medicaid funds for residents.

“We are working with the state of Tennessee, as well as CMS to get this corrected immediately,” the nursing home spokesperson said to News Channel 5.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Tennessee nursing home cited, residents in immediate jeopardy

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Mentally ill people ages 22 to 64 make up 9 percent of the nation’s 1.4 million nursing home residents, a number that has climbed 6 percent since 2002. That increase is attributed to the closing of state mental institutions and a shortage of hospital psychiatric beds.

Allowing mentally ill patients, many with a history of aggression toward others, to live in nursing homes with the elderly has had tragic results. In 2003, a 23-year-old woman was accused of starting a fire in the nursing home where she lived, which killed 16 fellow residents. The woman was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental institution.

Earlier this year, a 21-year-old nursing home resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder with aggression was charged with raping a 69-year-old resident. Seventy-seven-year-old nursing home resident Ivory Jackson died a brutal death when his mentally ill roommate – 30 years his junior – bashed his face in with a clock radio.

“Sadly, we’re seeing the tragic results of the failure of federal and state governments to provide appropriate treatment and housing for those with mental illnesses and to provide a safe environment for the frail elderly,” said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, to the Associated Press.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Mentally ill threaten safety of nursing home patients

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“Improving the quality of care in nursing homes is a constant challenge. More transparency, better enforcement and improved staff training are needed, and this legislation works to make changes in those areas and improve the quality of life of nursing home residents and to empower the family members and loved ones of those residents,” Grassley said.

Grassley and Kohl also released a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Participating Facilities: CMS Needs to Reexamine Its Approach for Oversight of Health Care Facilities.” The report suggests that the survey and certification system is significantly under-funded relative to the scope of its oversight responsibilities, which have greatly expanded in recent years.

The report found that because of resource constraints, some facilities have been receiving inspections once every ten years rather than yearly. The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act seeks to strengthen the federal government’s survey and certification system.

Grassley and Kohl have worked together previously to improve nursing home quality by heading up the government’s new five-star nursing home rating system and releasing the Special Focus Facility program participant list, which names the 135 worst nursing homes in the country.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Grassley, Kohl reintroduce legislation to improve care at nursing homes

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Had McCauley been wearing the doctor-prescribed bracelet that would sound an alarm and lock the doors if she wandered too close to the home’s exit, perhaps her story wouldn’t have ended so tragically. Attorney General Martha Coakley believes the home was negligent by not ensuring that McCauley was wearing the bracelet.

The home’s parent company, Life Care Centers of America, headquartered in Tennessee, is charged with manslaughter neglect of a long-term care facility resident. Trial began this week in Middlesex Superior Court, according to the Wicked Local. The company faces up to $6,000 in fines if found liable.

Life Care operates more than 200 facilities in 28 states and has been in the spotlight for erroneous practices in the past. In 2005, the company shelled out $2.5 million to resolve a Medicaid/Medicare fraud case. In 2007, the company paid an additional $164,000 for deficiencies directly related to deficient resident care that put resident’s in harms way.

Meantime, the Massachusetts legislature is considering a change in law that would increase the maximum fine for a corporation convicted of manslaughter from $1,000 to $250,000. If the law is passed, it would not apply retrospectively to McCauley’s case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home corporation faces manslaughter charges

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Apparently the new rule slid under most radars, but the results have left those pursing lawsuits fighting a more difficult battle than before to prove their cases against nursing homes. The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, which helps prevent them from getting involved in private litigation without approval from the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Litigants now must jump through more hoops – like obtaining court orders – to get information that was once much easier to obtain, such as inspection reports. Those inspection reports can often reveal signs of abuse or neglect that the average person may not be aware of.

Proponents of the ruling say that it was necessary in order to hire new contractors to carry out activities like federal payments to providers, perform audits and oversee certification and surveys of nursing homes.

A representative from the American Health Care Association says the organization also is having difficulty getting details on how state inspectors determine penalties and citations. But, it seems, it’s the victims of potential abuse and neglect who will suffer the most.

According to a representative with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles, “This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors. … Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New rule makes obtaining nursing home information more difficult

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Gregory Logan chose instead to fight the charge.

Last week, Attorney General Martha Coakley cleared Gregory Logan of larceny, according to Wicked Local Braintree.

The announcement comes nearly three years after charges were initially filed against the men. All three were initially charged with taking more than $600, 000 of the $34 million in Medicare funds during that time while also failing to provide basic goods and services to the residents of their facilities. They also were accused of failing to remit deductions withheld from employees’ wages and for a company-sponsored retirement plan. The investigation also revealed that the facilities frequently experienced shortages of food, medicine, personal hygiene items and linens. Vendor bills often went unpaid which resulted in lapses of services such as pest control and medical waste pickups.

“There are two sides to every story. I was accused of stealing from the elderly, and I refused to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit,” Gregory Logan said to reporters.

In 2003, a judge put four of the homes into receivership and the fifth went into receivership a year later. Since then, two of the homes have closed and three were sold to other companies.

Now cleared of wrongdoing, Gregory Logan says he is distancing himself from his family and hopes to continue in health care management.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home founders’ grandson cleared of larceny

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The assistant attorney general accused the men of taking more than $600,000 of the $34 million in Medicare funds during that time while also failing to provide basic goods and services to residents of their facilities. Both pleaded guilty in July to misappropriating Medicaid funds, conspiracy, larceny, embezzlement and patient neglect. They were put on a five-year probation and were ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution.

Charges were filed after a three-year investigation which also revealed that the Logan facilities frequently experienced shortages of food, medicine, personal hygiene items and linens. Vendor bills often went unpaid, which resulted in lapses of services such as pest control and medical waste pick-ups.

The Logans also are accused of failure to remit about $55,000 in deductions withheld from employees’ wages for a company-sponsored 401(k) plan. They also are charged with failure to remit more than $22,000 in employee wage withholdings for short-term disability policies and individual life insurance policies.

Gregory Logan’s grandparents Samuel and Florence Logan founded the nursing home operation. The family once owned and operated one of the largest and oldest nursing home operations in the region. In 2003, a judge put four of the homes into receivership, and the fifth home went into receivership in 2004. The order was spurred by mismanagement of the homes. Since then, two of the homes have closed and three were sold to other companies.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Owner of nursing homes faces larceny, conspiracy charges

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If Winchester Centre loses its contract, the home will stop receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments from the federal government and will no longer be certified to care for patients receiving those services. In that event, patients at the home would then be transferred to certified nursing homes, which may result in the closing of Winchester Centre. Officials say they are unsure what will happen to Winchester Centre and that other options besides closing are available, such as bringing in a new group of professionals to run the nursing home and incurring daily fines until specific citations are resolved.

Currently, 166 patients reside in the 183-bed facility. The home offers skilled nursing and rehabilitative care as well as a special unit for patients with dementia. Central Kentucky already has lost 400 Medicaid beds for nursing home patients, said Gannoe. “It’s a disaster for Central Kentucky,” she says.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky nursing home facing most serious citation

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The nursing home claimed she had not paid her bill in months, and they had no choice but to discharge her. With no family to call on, nursing home officials dropped her off at the next best place they could think of, the hospital emergency room. Later that evening, Ko was taken to Aiea respite home for temporary care.

“I wish someone (at the nursing home) had the courage to tell me what was going on,” Ko told the newspaper reporter.

A Hawaii state agency determined that that no abuse had occurred because the nursing home had dropped Ko off at a safe place, a hospital. However, the Department of Human Services called the drop-off inappropriate, and said it would refer the case to the Department of Health.

Nu’uano Hale is rated as “poor” on a new rating system recently unveiled by the federal government, earning one star out of a possible five.

Ko is in a situation referred to by officials as the“gap group.”  Her personal finances did not allow her to qualify for Medicaid but she earned too little from Social Security and an annuity to cover nursing home costs.

“We will likely see more people needing assistance,” says Anne Holton, a long-term-care ombudsman specialist with the Hawaii Executive Office on Aging. “With the boomers coming up, there’s going to be a whole new tide of people looking at that.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident discharged, dropped off at ER

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

After discovering numerous bruises all over her body, the family of resident Armeda Thomas hid a video camera in her Madison Manor room. For three weeks they recorded nursing assistants physically abusing and taunting Thomas and failing to feed and clean her, according to state records. In one instance, a nursing aide was seen dancing in front of Thomas while another staff member held the resident’s arms.

The video tape showed several nursing assistants partaking in the physical abuse of Thomas. Extendicare, the Wisconsin company that owns Madison Manor, fired nine nursing assistants, made staff changes, and set up a retraining program for staff as a result of the videotape. “We do not condone this kind of behavior,” said a spokesperson for Extendicare in the report.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office says the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could result. The home also was cited by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, threatening its Medicaid certification. The state later issued a statement saying that the nursing home’s management had taken steps to correct the problems.

Thomas’ family members moved Thomas home after seeing the tapes. She died last month after complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home aide shocked by wanton neglect charge

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Measuring the quality of a nursing home is not always clear-cut. More that 1.5 million people live in 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Each facility is inspected annually and must meet federal standards in order to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has established the site to give the public a better understanding of how nursing homes compare to others.

The site rates three criteria – health inspection, nursing home staff and quality measures. Those three criteria make up the nursing home’s overall rating. The “health inspection” criteria is the data from the last three standard health inspections and all complaint inspections that have been conducted in the last three years. “Nursing home staffing” criteria is gathered from the most recent health inspection and ranks homes based on overall staffing hours and the type of staff employed. “Quality measures” criteria is reported by each nursing home and is based on 19 quality measures collected from residents.

Five stars indicate a nursing home that is “much above average,” and one star indicates a nursing home is “much below average.” An orange icon indicates homes that are considered Special Focus Facilities (SFF), or homes that have a history of persistent poor quality of care.

Those who visit the site can look up nursing home by name, zip code, state or county. Those listings can be further refined into subsets such as “nursing homes within a continuing care retirement community,” “nursing homes within a hospital,” and “nursing homes with resident and family councils.”

While the Nursing Home Compare site offers valuable information, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommends that family members visit nursing homes they are considering; talk with doctors or other healthcare practitioners, family and friends about their choices; and contact the long-term care ombudsman or State Survey Agency before making a decision.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Web site lists ratings of all nursing homes in country

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

According to state health department documents, the victim had only been at Grace Living Center a short time before she was attacked. Staff witnessed the incident and told the charge nurse, who said to get the woman and dress her. Shortly afterward, the woman was found crying and moaning. Staff noticed she was bleeding and contacted police and the woman’s daughter. The victim was later sent to the hospital.

The attacker is a male resident with a history of fondling female residents who are unable to call for help. He also suffers from dementia. The state contends that Grace Living Center staff was aware of the man’s wandering but did not take proper measures to prevent him from harming others. Nursing home resident advocate Wes Bledsoe asked the district attorney’s office to consider filing charges against the perpetrator.

Investigators reported to the State Department of Health that the facility also “did a poor job of protecting evidence” by removing the linens and clothing from the crime scene and putting them in the laundry before they could be investigated by police, according to the news report.

Grace Living Center released a written statement saying it took immediate steps “to provide safety and care of the residents and the male resident was promptly removed from the facility.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home blamed for resident molesting another resident

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

State investigators cited 16 infractions in a 370-page report released earlier this month.

One abuse claim stems from a patient, Carol Crow, who was found by family members covered in bruises on her face, around her neck and completely down her chest. Crow’s family is convinced that Crow was attacked, but the nursing home disputes that claim, insisting that she simply fell.

Another allegation of abuse, detailed in five pages of the report, is of patient who claimed he was hit by another resident day after day. His femur and hip were broken in the attacks, and he died a month later.

“In my opinion, we need a new owner of this facility who’s going to take action for the residents in their care,” says Wes Bledsoe of the Oklahoma Health Department that investigated the claims and filed the report.

The Health Department is recommending Whispering Pines not be allowed to accept any new Medicare and Medicaid patients until the deficiencies are corrected. If the center isn’t in compliance within six months its Medicare and Medicaid payments for existing patients could be cut off.

Whispering Pines has presented a plan to the Department of Health stating that it will correct all violations by Nov. 28.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Oklahoma nursing home faces fines for endangering patients

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

When officials at Genesis Rehabilitation suspected Dellarma’s credentials were at fault, they immediately suspended him. Then they contacted the Department of Health, local authorities and the Attorney General’s office. Dellarma was later terminated by his employer.

Dellarma was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated forgery, a Class B felony, for allegedly filing a public document with a public office with the intent to defraud or deceive. Dellarma also was indicted on two counts of felony theft by deception and one count for unlicensed practice of physical therapy, a misdemeanor.

The Morning Sentinel quoted a statement released by Genesis Rehabilitation: “We take issues like this very seriously and are cooperating fully with the authorities as they handle this situation. This is an isolated incident and is not a reflection of the overall quality of care provided to our patients every day. We remain committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment for the patients in our care.”

There was no evidence that any patients were harmed or endangered. No other information about the case was released, and the case remains under investigation by the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Health Care Crimes Unit.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Physical therapist charged with unlicensed practice, forgery

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Des Moines Register reviewed 81 bonus payment programs in 36 different states. Iowa, which began participating in the bonus program six years ago, was one of the first to establish a bonus program.

Of the 36 states that participate in the bonus program, eight do not disqualify a nursing home from receiving bonus money based on regulation violations. Fifteen of the bonus programs are based on quality of care. Points also are awarded for having a large percentage of patients on Medicaid and for offsetting expenses such as property taxes, fire sprinklers, or paying the minimum wage.

Nursing homes that receive the most bonus money do not necessarily have the best rating, the report points out. The bonus program may appear to be an incentive program or to reward quality care; however, its purpose in some cases is to reimburse or offset cost of bringing homes up to state or federal standards or encourage more homes to accept Medicare-dependent patients.

The bonus program first came to light in March after the Des Moines Register reported that some of the state’s most deficient homes were receiving money from the bonus program. Since then, Iowa has begun revising its program, reducing payments to homes that have recently been cited for causing “actual harm” to residents and eliminating payments to homes that put residents in “immediate jeopardy” of death or injury.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Bonuses paid to nursing homes with no regard to quality care

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

For one resident and her family, it was downright stressful.

Last June, a resident in the facility to receive physical therapy after having surgery on both knees, needed to get to her regular orthopedic doctor appointment. She was not ambulatory, needing a mechanical lift to be moved from the bed to the bathroom, and wheelchair to get around. She had to get to her doctor’s appointment in her hometown 32 miles away. The nursing home said its van was unavailable to transport her, leaving the resident and her family in a bind.

When administrator Pamm Dickey got word of the situation, she demanded the family pick up the resident by 5 p.m. that Thursday. The family scrambled, calling around and finally locating another nursing home. But that facility couldn’t accept her until Friday. Dickey was unwilling to budge. Using lewd language, Dickey demanded the family remove the resident from Pleasant Manor by the 5 p.m. Thursday deadline. Never mind that the other nursing home wasn’t ready for the resident. The woman’s family could just move her into their home in the interim, she was reported as saying.

However, moving the resident to the family’s home simply wasn’t an option. They were not equipped to lift and move her when she needed to use the bathroom, much less provide the skilled nursing care she needed. Even if it were for one night, the family just wasn’t able to do it.

Still, Dickey wouldn’t bend, becoming combative with the other nursing facility’s administrator over the phone. That administrator, who said she was “shocked” by Dickey’s unethical conduct, told Dickey she had no choice but to call Adult Protective Services. Dickey’s response, according to the administrator who reported her: “She proceeded to tell me to tell APS to bring a car to pick [the resident] up then because I will set her a– on the g—— curb!”

A 151-page report on the investigation into Pleasant Manor cited several incidents of emotional and verbal abuse by Dickey, including the incident mentioned above as well as berating residents for pushing their call buttons too often at night and arguing with one resident over a remote control. Dickey resigned Aug. 13, but dismissed the claims, saying “What is written (in the report) is not the truth by any means.”

Meanwhile, Pleasant Manor was found by surveyors as subjecting residents to immediate jeopardy and was fined, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has denied payment for all new residents admitted there who require coverage by Medicare or Medicaid effective Oct. 14 until the home achieves compliance with federal and state regulators.

Dickey’s case will be heard before the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators, who will then determine the status of her license.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home administrator cited for verbal, emotional abuse

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Medicaid, which is the state-federal body that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor, pays nursing homes millions each year for treating patients who qualify for Medicaid. Advocates for the elderly contend that nursing homes have successfully lobbied politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult, thus forcing these older or disabled individuals to move into nursing homes when they are independent enough to live at home, with relatives or in assisted living.

Individuals who qualify for Medicare and who become sick or disabled have no trouble qualifying for nursing homes, but are finding it far more difficult to receive Medicaid-supported services, the report states.

Advocates cite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case known as the Olmstead decision, in which the court ruled that the unjustified placement of individuals in institutions such as nursing homes amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision stated that states must provide community care if it can be accommodated and would be appropriate.

“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” says an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It seemed as if there was no one else to care for them.

A recent investigation has revealed that the residents there were subjected to deplorable living conditions, resulting in the nursing home closing and the Cincinnati Health Department being stripped of its ability to license and inspect skilled nursing homes and residential-care facilities, according to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer.

It all began last February when Cincinnati police officer Aaron Layton dropped by the facility in search of a suspect. He didn’t find the person he was looking for, but what he did find stopped him in his tracks. The condition of the home was sickening.

Officer Layton got a search warrant and returned 16 days later with other investigators and officers in tow. They were shocked at what they found: exposed wires, leaking sewage, soiled and torn mattresses, vomit on the floor, broken toilets, unqualified employees, improperly stored drugs and people languishing in their own waste.

“There was no compassion, no sympathy for people who were living in these conditions,” says Councilwoman Laketa Cole. “The very people you’d expect to be a proponent for them, failed them.”
The Ohio Department of Health reportedly inspected the facility in January and found 10 deficiencies. Just eight days before the raid in March, the state had cleared the facility of seven of the 10 problems cited, the Enquirer stated.

After months of debate, the City Council concluded city health inspectors had failed to protect the residents and ordered the city’s health department’s licensure and inspection responsibilities be handed over to the state.

Facilities administrator Abe Fischer could serve jail time because of 27 alleged building and fire code violations. He could learn as early as next week if the residential-care facility will lose its city license. The state began fining Fischer this spring – a bill that has reached more than $100,000 – and mandated that he no longer take on new Medicaid cases, according to the story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Health department stripped of nursing home responsibilities

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

However, of the 37,150 complaints inspectors received in 2007 about the condition of nursing homes, only 39 percent were substantiated and about 20 percent of those verified complaints involved patient neglect.

Measuring the quality of a nursing home is not always clear-cut. More that 1.5 million people live in 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Each facility is inspected annually and must meet federal standards in order to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. Unfortunately, while the standards are the same from state to state, deficiency rates vary.

“Inspectors are subjective and inconsistent. They interpret federal standards in different ways,” the Times quotes Bruce A. Yarwood, president of trade group American Health Care Association. Thus, some states show much higher percentages of deficient nursing homes than others, in what may not necessarily indicate a vast difference in quality of service.

In December, the Bush administration will institute a five-star system to rate overall quality of care in nursing facilities. The rankings will be published on a federal Web site, according to the New York Times report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Gauging nursing home care quality can be tricky

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Perhaps the most useful tool on the site is the National Watch List, which provides a listing of nursing homes cited for violations or that have received substantiated complaints. This list is broken down state by state and then alphabetically by the facility name, with color-coded warning labels and scope/severity codes.

MemberoftheFamily.net also provides an honor roll of facilities found to be deficiency-free.

The organization was founded in the mid-1990s by Dr. Edward C. “Terry” Watters, a Maryland physician fed up with the low standards and lack of sufficient care some of his patients were receiving in nursing homes. Watters and partner Dennis Steele petitioned for government reports about nursing homes and learned how to translate the federal Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR).

According to the site, “As they assembled the facts and ran statistical analyses, a bleak picture emerged of understaffing, physical abuse, untreated bedsores, and coldhearted decision-making by home operators and state officials charged with monitoring facilities.”

Since 1999, information on MemberoftheFamily.net has been available to the public at no cost. The organization is affiliated with no other group and all efforts have been self-funded.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › web site gives free nursing home info

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Home caregivers fall into two basic categories – those who provide basic health services, and those who provide non-medical services like housekeeping, cooking and nonmedical help. The WSJ reports these are the second- and third-fastest growing occupations in America.

The report finds that the majority of abuse cases are linked to nonmedical care providers, because this type of personnel is not required to have any specialized training, and very often not regulated. In fact, nonmedical caregivers do not have to be licensed or even pass a criminal background check in order to be employed in at least 22 states, the Journal reports.

People often choose in-home care as a less stressful alternative to displacing an elderly person from his or her home. In home care also is a cost-saving option. According to figures supplied by the WSJ, it costs Medicaid about $6,000 per person for home care, as opposed to around $20,000 for care in a nursing home facility.

People considering at-home care for an elderly loved one are encouraged to contact the U.S. Administration on Aging by calling toll-free 1-800-677-1116 or visiting www.eldercare.gov. They can provide assitance about locating licensed, safe caregivers.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Rising abuse in at-home care

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

According to a report in the Senior Journal, the Government Accountability Office estimated in a July 2004 report that automatic sprinkler systems can decrease the chance of fire-related deaths by 82 percent. In March 2005, CMS began requiring all long-term care facilities that did not have sprinklers to install battery-operated smoke alarms in all patient rooms and public areas, the publication reports.

By 2013, all nursing homes will have to have sprinkler coverage in areas including resident rooms, kitchen, dining and activity areas, corridors, attics, canopies, overhangs, offices, waiting areas, closets, storage areas for trash and linen, and maintenance areas.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Lifesaving: not an option

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

CMS is the federal agency that manages Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, and Medicaid, the health program for the poor.

On its web site, CMS says the new system is being designed as an easy way for the public to understand their assessment of nursing home quality, and will provide the public with a way to make meaningful distinctions between high-performing and low-performing homes. The rankings will be posted on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web Site, with plans to launch the program in December.

In June and July, the CMS is asking the public to visit its site and provide feedback about the new star rating system. A sample screen shot of the proposed star ratings also is available.

A press release on the agency web site quotes Kerry Weems, CMS acting administrator, as saying, “More than three million Americans rely on services provided by a nursing home at some point during the year. The new ‘five star’ rating system will provide a composite view of the quality and safety information currently on Nursing Home Compare to help beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily.”

According to CMS, this will be the first time the agency has offered a rating system for the fee-for-service, or traditional Medicare progra. Currently, the Compare web site assists beneficiaries and their families in making nursing home choices by providing information on individual measure of quality of care, staffing, and survey inspection information.

Medicare already lists troubled nursing homes in its online database, but that system can be hard for the general public to understand or to navigate. It is hoped that the new system will be easier to use, and therefore more effective for decision making.

Another hope is that by being listed as low performers with the easily identifiable star system, nursing homes that are below par will be motivated to improve, CMS officials say.

Descriptive information about the quality rating system and its progress may be obtained after June 22 on the CMS Hot Topics web page.

Comments and suggestions about the new nursing home rating system should be sent to BetterCare@cms.hhs.gov.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Five-star care

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Of those 23 homes, 16 stand to collect bonus Medicaid payments this year from state and federal taxpayers, according to the Register. The bonuses are tied to a state program that rewards nursing homes for providing quality, cost-effective care.

Elderly abuse is a crime. If you or a loved one have suffered nursing home abuse and neglect, please contact us today or call your local law enforcement agency.

Here’s how much each home was fined in 2007 and how much it stands to collect this year in performance-based bonuses. The homes are ranked based on the amount of their 2007 fines.

Meadow Lawn Health Care, Davenport
2007 fines: $33,350
2008 bonus: $0
Goldenrod Manor Care Center, Clarinda
2007 fines: $20,000
2008 bonus: $9,680
ManorCare, West Des Moines
2007 fines: $19,500
2008 bonus: $0
Risen Son Christian Village, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $18,500
2008 bonus: $0
The Abbey, Le Mars
2007 fines: $17,300
2008 bonus: $11,339
Cedar Falls Health Care Center
2007 fines: $16,500
2008 bonus: $0
Iowa Masonic Home, Bettendorf
2007 fines: $15,000
2008 bonus: $44,502
USA Healthcare, Urbandale
2007 fines: $13,400
2008 bonus: $76,859
Ramsey Village, Des Moines
2007 fines: $13,000

2008 bonus: $8,133

Glen Haven Home, Glenwood
2007 fines: $13,000
2008 bonus: $12,028
Park View Care Center, Burlington
2007 fines: $12,250
2008 bonus: $22,418
Woodlands Rehabilitation Center, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $33,801
Lantern Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Coralville
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $0
Good Samaritan Home, Villisca
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $25,198
Wesley Acres, Des Moines
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $8,894
Nelson Nursing Home, Fairfield
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $17,972
Oakwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Albia
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $0
Red Oak Rehabilitation and Care Center
2007 fines: $11,000
2008 bonus: $9,225

Riverside Manor, Ames
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $0
Windmill Manor, Coralville
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $24,811
The Manor, Malvern
2007 fines: $10,350
2008 bonus: $18,555
Clearview Home, Mount Ayr
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $57,552
Elm Crest Retirement Community, Harlan
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $24,142

Source: Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. (Specialized facilities, hospital affiliates and state-run homes do not participate in the bonus program.)

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home fines, bonuses

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.