To anyone who regularly reads this blog, it will not come as a surprise to hear me say (once again) that the medical – industrial complex which runs America’s long term care industry puts profits ahead of people. Always have and always will! The result is overwhelmingly poor care.
Some of critics of my position counter with the argument that, “many nursing homes get good inspection reports when surveyed by state agencies – so they can’t be as bad as you say.” My response, yes they are just as bad as I say and here is more proof.
In a report to be released today, investigators, from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), say they have found widespread “understatement of deficiencies,” including malnutrition, severe bedsores, overuse of prescription medications and abuse of nursing home residents. Nursing homes are typically inspected once a year by state employees working under contract with the federal government, which sets stringent standards. Federal officials try to validate the work of state inspectors by accompanying them or doing follow-up surveys within a few weeks.
The GAO 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.
Okay corporate owners of nursing homes….what do you have to say now?