The title of a November 13, 2011 associated press article caught my eye – Report: Texas Lax on Nursing Home Rules.”
The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday that Texas has all but stopped imposing the most severe penalties, such as revoking a home’s license and government contracts, or seeking a court-appointed overseer for nursing homes in violation.
Texas has heavily reduced its enforcement of rules that govern the state’s nursing homes, partly because of to budget cuts, legislative changes and inspectors being discouraged from citing bad conditions.
My Question to our readers: If the state (for whatever reason) is no longer enforcing safety rules for nursing homes and if the state has severely restricted the right of residents and family members to hold nursing homes accountable (tort reform)….just who is looking out for the most vulnerable people in our country?
I sure hope this problem does not make its way to Virginia.