Too Many Bad Nursing HomesAugust 11 , 2006 A new report to be published in next month’s issue of Consumer Reports finds that too many bad nursing homes and too few good ones plague elderly care in the United States. The report, titled Nursing Home Quality Monitor, is based on data from about 16,000 nursing homes across the country. Researchers analyzed the homes based on three measures of quality, including accuracy of reporting, adequate staffing, and mobility of residents. What the researchers found Based on their results, the researchers determined the best nursing homes and the worst in each state. They concluded that, in general, non-profit homes were better than for-profit ones and independent homes better than chains. “Less than 2 percent of for-profit homes were likely to provide good care while more than 7 percent of not-for-profit homes were,” said Trudy Lieberman, director of Consumers Union’s Center for Consumer Health Choices. She added, “At the other end of the spectrum, less than 1.5 percent of not-for-profits were likely to provide poor care while 3.5 percent of for-profits were.” According to the report, non-profit nursing homes provided on average an extra hour of nursing care per patient per day. Moreover, twice as much care was provided by registered nurses at non-profit facilities than for-profit ones. Repeat offenders The article includes a list of nursing homes that have performed poorly repeatedly. One such facility is the White Blossom Care Center in San Jose, California. A for-profit home, it has a history of failing to follow physicians’ orders, monitoring bedsores, and more. Another home in New York, Healthcare Associates, has been sued by the state attorney general for abuse and neglect. Worse still, enforcement of nursing home violations seems to be lax. Penalties are becoming more lenient, including smaller fines and fewer closings. “John F. Kennedy said once that the strength and durability of a society can be judged by how it treats its elderly,” said Lieberman. “In America today, we are not always treating our elderly very well.” For more information on California's nursing homes, contact us to confer with a California nursing home abuse lawyer. Search Nursing Home Abuse News: Nationwide / Statewide |
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Nursing Home Abuse - From ABCNEWS.COM |
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