Federal Report Criticizes US Nursing Homes

Former Fat Guy dot Com wrote:

A recent report published by the New York Times found that nearly 95% of American nursing homes had health or safety standard violations last year. Interestingly, nonprofit nursing homes were found to have fewer violations than for-profit institutions.

The report, which was authored by Daniel R. Levinson of the Department of Health and Human Services, concluded that approximately 17% of nursing homes had technical violations so severe as to pose an actual threat of physical harm or immediate jeopardy to the patients being cared for.
Some of the problems cited included delivering the wrong medication to patients, allowing bedridden patients to develop bedsores, as well as malnutrition and general patient neglect. Last year, inspectors from the Department Of Health And Human Services received over 35,000 complaints concerning substandard conditions in long-term care facilities. About 20% of the complaints concerned allegations of patient abuse or neglect.
In the United States, nearly 70% of all nursing homes are run by for-profit companies; most of the remaining homes are operated by nonprofit organizations. Only about 6% of US nursing homes are maintained by state or federal government programs — the lowest percentage in the industrialized world.
The Department of Health and Human Services report showed that 94% of for-profit facilities were cited for irregularities and deficiencies in 2007. 91% of government run facilities were cited, while 88% of nonprofit nursing homes were found to have violations.
Inspector Levinson issued a statement about the shoddy condition of American nursing homes, noting that many of […]

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