A few years ago in Virginia, a law was proposed to require certain number of staff in nursing home, per number of residents. GREAT IDEA I thought. Well, those for-profit healthcare providers didn’t agree, and so there is no law.
An attorney in California filed a lawsuit this week, Sun Mar Healthcare Inc., alleging that the skilled nursing company scrimps on staffing and training and misrepresented staffing levels to elderly residents. Accpording to the San Jose News – the lawsuit alleges it was Sun Mar’s corporate strategy to impose budget guidelines that forced supervisors to understaff facilities and skimp on employee training, all while representing high staffing and training levels to new customers.
“There is a direct correlation between the conduct that leads to abuse of an elder and insufficient staffing levels in these long-term facilities,” attorney Stephen Garcia, a Long Beach attorney, said in a printed statement.
We see that all the time – too few staff + too many residents = poor care, and why? To make a few more bucks..