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90% of Nursing Homes in America Violate Federal Standards

Posted under: Nursing Home Care — tslaughter @ 9:40 am

In a startling report published by the New York Times on September 30, 2008, it was disclosed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that at least 90% of the elderly nursing homes it inspected were offering care below the Federal minimums. For-profit concerns had the highest percentage of deficiencies (94%), while non-profit homes were below standards 88% of the time.

In 17 percent of the homes, the deficiencies caused actual harm or immediate jeopardy of harm to patients. The abuse and neglect of the patients most commonly involved infected bed sores, misadministration of medications and poor nutrition. Lack of skilled supervised care providers was cited as the primary cause of the problem.

Today, there are approximately 1.5 million people in America that live in 15,000 nursing homes. As “Baby Boomers” continue to age, the population of Americans living in these facilities will only increase. If the system is already overtaxed and underfunded, it can only get worse. This is unacceptable.

Anyone who has spent anytime in a nursing home attending to family or friends, soon appreciates the great deal of work that is required to make sure that the patients receive adequate attention and care. These facilities seem chronically understaffed. We understand the strains that understaffing places on those that do provide care, but often the problem is with the management of the facility itself.

If you are having concerns about the care that is being provided to an elderly or disabled loved one, and believe that injury or abuse is occuring, please call our Redding attorneys as we would be glad to discuss the situation with you. If we can help, we will.

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October 2, 2008

90% of Nursing Homes in America Violate Federal Standards