Hey America, how do you like this news? The Washington Post reports that more than 90 percent of U.S. nursing homes were cited for violating federal care standards in each of the past three years, according to the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services. For-profit facilities — the most common type of nursing home — had more violations, on average, than did other types of homes and they were more likely to be deficient.
The problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition as well as abuse and neglect of patients. Inspectors received 37,150 complaints about conditions in nursing homes last year, and they substantiated 39 percent of them, the report said. About one-fifth of the complaints verified by federal and state authorities involved the abuse or neglect of patients.
Who are the “for-profit nursing homes? Try Medical Facilities of America (which trades under too many different names to list), The Carlyle Group (owner of HCR Manor Care), Avante, Beverly, Brian Center, Eldercare, Heritage Hall, SunBridge, and many, many others.
All for-profit nursing homes are not bad places. However, I would closely investigate any for-profit nursing home BEFORE placing a loved one in their care! I would want to make sure the facility was not putting “profits over people.”