As the readers of this blog know, Lauren and I spend a great deal of time representing nursing home residents, and their families, in civil lawsuits against nursing homes which provide poor, sometimes shocking, care.
Once we get into the lawsuit and get to depose the Director of Nursing and Administrator we “learn” (ha ha ha!) that lack of finances is the reason the facility doesn’t have enough nurses to care for all of the residents. We learn that the facility doesn’t have enough money in the budget for safer, better beds, wheelchairs, mechanical lifts, etc., etc.
Where does all the money go?
How about to the owners and Administrators. Nursing home Administrators’ salaries rose this year at their highest rate in four years.
Administrator salaries jumped by an average of 4.8%, according to the 2009-2010 Nursing Home Salary & Benefits Report from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service. This is the largest one-year increase since the 2006-2007 survey found a 4.6% pay rise that put administrators over the $80,000 mark. Last year, the national average salary for facilities of all bed sizes, both for-profit and nonprofit, was $85,464. This year, it is $89,606.
My Take: Maybe nursing homes could provide better care for their residents if they devoted more financial resources to the job.