Eight nursing homes sue to stop enforcement of Ruthie's Law

ALBANY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Eight local nursing homes and long-term health care providers have filed a lawsuit against Erie County to challenge the implementation of Ruthie’s Law, which requires homes to inform a designated individual within two hours after a resident suffers an injury requiring hospital treatment.

The law was approved by the Erie County Legislature in 2017 in response to the 2016 death of Ruth Murray, who was beaten by another patient at Emerald South on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. Emerald South has since shut down.

But the The New York State Health Facilities Association, which is also part of the suit, claims the reporting requirements are “costly” and “burdensome,” and are a duplication of requirements already “imposed on them by state and federal law.”

NYSHFA President and CEO Stephen Hanse said he understood the “good intentions of Erie County legislators when they enacted the local law.” But Hanse noted that State law gives the New York State Department of Health exclusive regulatory authority over nursing homes and hospitals and specifically prohibits local governments from regulating such facilities.

“We have reached out to the county authorities in an effort to resolve this matter without litigation, but unfortunately Erie County appears to be adamant in proceeding to enforce the law and fine these facilities. We regret having to take this action, but they have left us no choice,” Hanse said. “NYSHFA is especially disturbed by unjust and misleading accusations that nursing homes are breaking a local law when it is the county that is violating a state law.”

The following are the nursing homes in Erie County included in the lawsuit:

• Elderwood at Amherst
• Elderwood at Cheektowaga
• Elderwood at Grand Island
• Elderwood at Hamburg
• Elderwood at Lancaster
• Elderwood at Williamsville
• Schofield Residence
• Williamsville Suburban Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing

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Eight nursing homes sue to stop enforcement of Ruthie's Law

Few Clark County guardianship cases are in compliance with Nevada laws

By COLTON LOCHHEAD
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

An internal review of guardianship cases in Clark County showed that less than half are in compliance with state laws and that most vulnerable adults are stripped of rights without an attorney.

District Court Judge Diane Steele provided an in-depth overview of the county’s guardianship caseload during a presentation to the Nevada Supreme Court commission studying guardianship. The panel has been meeting since last summer in an effort to fix the state’s troubled system. The commission was formed following a Review-Journal series highlighting the flaws and lack of oversight of county’s guardianship system that watches over thousands of at-risk adults, called wards.

Most compliance issues stemmed from family members not knowing they needed to file annual reports for their incapacitated family member, according to the report.

But the study showed that about 850 of the 3,800 active cases have not filed the required annual accountings that show how a ward’s money was distributed and spent over a 12-month period. In 975 cases, the initial inventory — which lists the assets of the ward such as real estate, vehicles and liquid assets — was also missing, the report said. Without an inventory, it’s nearly impossible for the court to know what the ward owned or how much money the estate is worth. Steele added that several cases have multiple compliance issues.

Steele said she hopes that a newly implemented, case-management system, which automatically flags cases for numerous types of compliance violations, will help bring more cases in line with state law.
The previous guardianship software did not notify the courts if the guardians failed to file accountings or inventories.

The report also showed that 85 percent of wards have no legal representation through the guardianship process. That means those wards, most of whom have already been deemed unfit to handle their own affairs, face the potential loss of rights that comes with guardianships alone and without any knowledge of the system.

The commission has bounced around the idea of recommending that all wards be given the right to an attorney, much like those facing criminal charges, but it has not made a formal decision yet.

The commission is scheduled to meet twice more, on April 22 and May 20, before making recommendations for changes to laws and court procedures to the Supreme Court.

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Few Clark County guardianship cases are in compliance with Nevada laws

Senators Seek Attorney Ad Litem Payment Data

Debbie Salinas Valdez of the advocacy group Guardianship Reform Advocates for the Disabled and Elderly said that no one watches what attorneys ad litem do in a case, and fees can climb to hundreds of thousands.

Reports about improprieties in the attorney ad litem system—the target of allegations of favoritism and nepotism for decades—prompted a senator to take action to further scrutinize attorney fee payments.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said that, last year, reports showed that attorneys ad litem received nearly $26 million, but they probably received much more. A 1994 Texas Supreme Court rule requires clerks to report payments monthly, but only 40 percent of clerks filed reports in 2014. Senate Bill 1369 aims to increase compliance by writing the high court's rule into law, Zaffirini told members of the Senate State Affairs Committee on March 30.

Judges appoint attorneys ad litem to represent people who cannot represent themselves, such as children, the elderly or disabled people.

SB 1369 is a work in progress, and Zaffirini said she plans to introduce a new version later. She explained that the current draft would require clerks to issue an annual report showing payments and the name of the judge who appointed an attorney ad litem, the date of orders approving payments and the style of each case involved. If a clerk failed to issue the annual report, a court would face the consequence of losing its eligibility for state grant money.

Debbie Salinas Valdez of the advocacy group Guardianship Reform Advocates for the Disabled and Elderly said that no one watches what attorneys ad litem do in a case. Many times, attorney fees climb to hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said.

"We see in certain courts, it's the same ad litems, the same guardians who are attached to those ad litems," Valdez said.

Steve Bresnen, a lobbyist for the Texas Family Law Foundation, told committee members that he's convinced that—whether it occurs or not—there is suspicion about abuse among attorneys ad litem. He said the bill should make attorneys ad litem responsible for filing payment reports so that clerks have complete data for their reports. He said that it's easier to find information when public money pays the bill, and harder when the money comes from a private party.

Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman said that he's concerned the bill might burden judges, who don't have enough staff. He blamed the Supreme Court for the low reporting rate because it's not enforcing its own rule. The high court could get clerks' attention through a letter, he said.

Chambers County Clerk Patty Henry said that she discussed SB 1369 with fellow clerks to find out why compliance rates are so low.

"This is simply an education issue on our part; it's nothing purposeful," Henry said. "Now that we've been made aware of this, we are going to address this issue and make sure that we are compliant."

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Senators Seek Attorney Ad Litem Payment Data