South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

The New york Times had an article explaining the Obama administration's plan to overhaul financial regulation by subjecting hedge funds and traders of exotic financial instruments to potentially strict new government supervision. Many of these hedge funds and financial instruments own or have a financial stake in numerous nursing homes around the country.  It states that the government would have the power to peer into the inner workings of companies that currently escape most federal supervision, and specifically cites "private equity firms like the Carlyle Group."   

The Carlyle Group bought out Manor Care a couple of years ago and have created sham L.L.C.s to protect themselves from liability while cutting the budgets of the nursing homes that they own.  In fact, two men who worked in the New York State comptroller’s office were arrested recently after it was discovered they took millions of dollars in kickbacks from private equity and hedge funds.  David Loglisci, who was the top investment officer of the state’s $122 billion pension fund, along with Henry Morris, who fund-raised for former comptroller Alan Hevesi, were nailed in a 123-count indictment, which included charges of money laundering, securities fraud and bribery. It was discovered that over 20 transactions made by the pension fund involved kickbacks, with five of those coming from the renowned private equity fund The Carlyle Group. Morris, who was released after posting a $1 million cash bail, allegedly received $13 million from The Carlyle Group, from investments that totaled $730 million.

The administration would require that all standardized derivatives be traded through a regulated clearinghouse. Traders would be required to provide documentation on their collateral and borrowings. They would also be subject to new eligibility requirements, and their trading and settlement practices would be subject to new standards.

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Keloland.com had an article about the sexual abuse allegations at an elderly home in Hot Springs, S.D.  Many family members are appropriately concerned. The DCI is finally looking into reports dating back to January at the Castle Manor Nursing home.  Hospital officials say they know of more victims. Board President of Castle Manor Rich Nelson knows of at least three victims and has received several other complaints. The suspect is a male nursing assistant.  Family members of the alleged victims claim Fall River Health Services tried to cover up the abuse.

When sisters Sharon Deboer and Gwendolyn Ketterer needed a long-term care facility for their mother two-and-a-half years ago, they had no doubts about the care at Castle Manor. That changed when the 84-year-old dementia patient started acting out of character late last year when a male nursing assistant began taking care of her.

"I just felt that there was something with him that I just couldn't put my finger on. I couldn't put my finger on it but I suspected that type of thing. It was just a feeling," Deboer said.  On January 17, Deboer's suspicions were confirmed.  "One of the staff called me and told me she had to talk to me, that she had something to tell me. She told me right when we met that this CNA, this male CNA, had been molesting my mom," Deboer said.

That was the only type of notification the sisters received from Castle Manor, despite an abuse report filed with the Department of Health three days earlier. The suspect stayed on as an employee for weeks before Manor officials say he was finally let go. That was part of Fall River Health Service's efforts to cover up the abuse.

How many others suffered abuse silently while Manor staff looked the other way.

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The Hour had an article about Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announcement that her administration has given the Legislature's Public Health Committee testimony in support of her bill to provide greater state oversight over nursing home administration and management including ongoing financial monitoring and expanded quality of care reviews of nursing homes.

An Act Concerning Oversight of Nursing Homes would:

1.  identify areas of the state which either need or have a surplus of nursing home beds;

2. create an oversight committee to focus on financial solvency and quality of care issues;

3.  enhance the public's access to important nursing home data;

4.  provide for greater oversight by the Department of Social Services when there is an application for a change of ownership;

5.  require expanded financial reporting to DSS;

6.   require that nursing homes submit quarterly reports of accounts payable to DSS -- as unpaid bills are a key indicator of financial health; and provide state regulatory agencies with expanded subpoena authority.

"Placing a loved one in a nursing home is often a necessary, but difficult decision and family members deserve the peace of mind of knowing that the finances and the quality of care issues of these facilities are closely monitored," Rell said. "When a nursing home goes out of business due to financial issues, both patients and their families must suffer through the turmoil of a new placement.

"Nursing homes are an important part of the network of care and services for Connecticut residents and quality of care issues are paramount to individuals who have a family member in a nursing facility," the governor said. "We must do everything in our power to ensure a standard of care that instills confidence in the people who are entrusting loved ones to a nursing facility."
 

I wish every State especially South Carolina would pass similar legislation.

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Here is a link to the recent GAO Report that shows a lack of investigation into nursing home neglect and abuse.  The NY Times ran a great article on this report.  Below are some excerpts from that article.

Nursing home inspectors routinely overlook or minimize problems that pose a serious, immediate threat to patients, Congressional investigators say in a new report.   In the report, the investigators from the Government Accountability Office, say they have found widespread “understatement of deficiencies,” including malnutrition, severe bedsores, overuse of prescription medications and abuse of nursing home residents.

The accountability office found that state employees had missed at least one serious deficiency in 15 percent of the inspections checked by federal officials. In nine states, inspectors missed serious problems in more than 25 percent of the surveys analyzed from 2002 to 2007.

The nine states most likely to miss serious deficiencies were Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming, the report said.

“Poor quality of care — worsening pressure sores or untreated weight loss — in a small but unacceptably high number of nursing homes continues to harm residents or place them in immediate jeopardy, that is, at risk of death or serious injury,” the report said.   Nursing homes must meet federal standards as a condition of participating in Medicaid and Medicare.

Lewis Morris, chief counsel to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, said he had often been frustrated in trying to identify the owners of nursing homes that provided substandard care.  “We have found nursing home residents who were grossly dehydrated or malnourished,” Mr. Morris said. “We’ve found patients with maggot infestations in wounds and dead flesh. We’ve found residents with broken bones that went unmended.”

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Here is a link to the list of nursing homes that are failing in providing good care for pressure ulcers and physical restraints.  There are over 50 nursing homes located in South Carolina on this list.  South Carolina can certainly do better.  Pages 81 and 82 list the South Carolina nursing homes on the list.

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The Associate Press had this story today.   Fifty-six nursing homes are among the worst in their states and are being called out in an effort to goad them into providing proper patient care.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups complain that too many facilities get cited for serious deficiencies but don't make adequate improvement, or do so only temporarily.

The homes in question are among more than 120 designated as a "special focus facility." CMS began using the designation to identify homes that need more oversight.   The homes on the list got not only the special focus designation, but also registered a lack of improvement in a subsequent survey. 

There are about 16,400 nursing homes nationwide. About 1.5 million elderly people live in nursing homes. Taxpayers spend about $72.5 billion a year to pay the cost of nursing home care.

The AARP also applauded the administration's action.

"People in nursing homes have a right to know how well they're performing," said David Certner, director of legislative policy for AARP, an advocacy group for people 50 and older. "Their families certainly have a right to know what kind of care their relatives are receiving and if that care is substandard."

Here is the link to the list.

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