The bipartisan Elder Justice Coalition today called for immediate Congressional hearings into a disturbing report issued this weekend pointing to chronic staff shortages in nursing homes.
The
Coalition specifically asked the hearings to focus on the response by
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to the report,
specifically on how staffing shortages went unnoticed and on changes to
the nursing home star rating system to prevent this problem in the
future.
Bob
Blancato, National Coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition, said,
“Although there may not be consensus on optimal staffing levels in
nursing homes, this new data from CMS again reveals that many facilities
do not have adequate staffing to protect the health and safety of their
residents. Staff shortages can contribute to elder abuse—most
especially neglect—and we must do everything possible to prevent this.
The decision to place an individual in a nursing home is difficult
enough without having concerns about the quantity and quality of the
staff at a given facility, and grading facilities ‘on a curve’ is no way
to ensure the safety of vulnerable older adults in nursing homes.”
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It's about time the EJC came out on nursing home problems.
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