Letters to the Editor 07-31-1998
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Not All Nursing Homes Substandard
Not All Nursing Homes Substandard
Editor, Times-Union:The Senate Aging Committee has scheduled a hearing on poor nursing home care this week. The hearing will focus on the General Accounting Office follow-up investigation to allegations that several California nursing facilities provided abnormal care to their residents. The GAO will be issuing a report titled, "Betrayal: The Quality of Care in California Nursing Homes." The intent of this report is, no doubt, to cast a bad light on every nursing home.
At this point, we would urge the good people of Warsaw to bear in mind the following:
1. Don't judge all nursing homes on the basis of a few. The GAO report is based on investigation of a few homes in California; it is not reflective of the entire industry.
2. Bad homes continue to do business because the nursing home enforcement system is broken. Every home, whether it has a good record or a bad record, is required to be inspected each year. As long as every home is treated like a bad home, regulators will not have the time or resources necessary to bring poorly performing homes up to acceptable standards or shut down homes that will not comply with standards. The government should allow states the flexibility to inspect homes with a spotless record less often, so that more resources can be devoted to helping residents in poorly performing homes. The government shares responsibility for problem homes because it continues to use a failed enforcement system.
3. The federal government is also moving to ratchet down federal reimbursement for nursing homes care. The government itself projects that changes to the system that pays nursing homes for the care they provide will cost nursing homes over $12 billion over the next five years. Industry analysts expect it will cost them much more. As resources to provide care dry up, not-for-profit homes are concerned that nursing homes will not have adequate resources to ensure the quality of life components that add meaning and dignity to each person's life.
4. Blanket indictment of nursing homes in the media unjustly demoralizes nursing home staff and makes it difficult for them to have pride in the job that they do. Working in a nursing home is hard work, and those who do it with diligence and concern for the residents should be celebrated in the community. It is disheartening to see the hard work of these people tarnished by over generalization in the media or by Congress.
5. Most nursing home operators want to do a good job. If you show them a better way, they will do it. Homes that are repeatedly and seriously out of compliance with federal standards, placing their residents in jeopardy, should be shut down. Punitive punishments, such as fines, are not always the best way to ensure quality care.
Jeff Carroll
CEO
Grace Village Retirement Community
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- Not All Nursing Homes Substandard
Not All Nursing Homes Substandard
Editor, Times-Union:The Senate Aging Committee has scheduled a hearing on poor nursing home care this week. The hearing will focus on the General Accounting Office follow-up investigation to allegations that several California nursing facilities provided abnormal care to their residents. The GAO will be issuing a report titled, "Betrayal: The Quality of Care in California Nursing Homes." The intent of this report is, no doubt, to cast a bad light on every nursing home.
At this point, we would urge the good people of Warsaw to bear in mind the following:
1. Don't judge all nursing homes on the basis of a few. The GAO report is based on investigation of a few homes in California; it is not reflective of the entire industry.
2. Bad homes continue to do business because the nursing home enforcement system is broken. Every home, whether it has a good record or a bad record, is required to be inspected each year. As long as every home is treated like a bad home, regulators will not have the time or resources necessary to bring poorly performing homes up to acceptable standards or shut down homes that will not comply with standards. The government should allow states the flexibility to inspect homes with a spotless record less often, so that more resources can be devoted to helping residents in poorly performing homes. The government shares responsibility for problem homes because it continues to use a failed enforcement system.
3. The federal government is also moving to ratchet down federal reimbursement for nursing homes care. The government itself projects that changes to the system that pays nursing homes for the care they provide will cost nursing homes over $12 billion over the next five years. Industry analysts expect it will cost them much more. As resources to provide care dry up, not-for-profit homes are concerned that nursing homes will not have adequate resources to ensure the quality of life components that add meaning and dignity to each person's life.
4. Blanket indictment of nursing homes in the media unjustly demoralizes nursing home staff and makes it difficult for them to have pride in the job that they do. Working in a nursing home is hard work, and those who do it with diligence and concern for the residents should be celebrated in the community. It is disheartening to see the hard work of these people tarnished by over generalization in the media or by Congress.
5. Most nursing home operators want to do a good job. If you show them a better way, they will do it. Homes that are repeatedly and seriously out of compliance with federal standards, placing their residents in jeopardy, should be shut down. Punitive punishments, such as fines, are not always the best way to ensure quality care.
Jeff Carroll
CEO
Grace Village Retirement Community
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