A new study shows that approximately one in five nursing homes across the country rates poorly for the quality of care. That means that hundreds of thousands of senior citizens are residing in nursing homes that received the absolute lowest quality score and are subject to nursing home abuse and neglect.
Several years ago the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began attributing a score to nursing homes ranging from one star to five stars based on overall quality, staffing, complaint investigations, and the results of health inspections. The most horrifying statistic is that nearly all homes that consistently receive one or two stars (for overall poor quality) are owned by for-profit corporations. Cost cutting and profit seeking behavior may be putting helpless senior citizens at risk.
The following is a database of the 15,000 plus nursing homes that were assigned a grade. Click on this link to look at how nursing homes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts stack up from the best to the worst. The lowest scoring nursing homes averaged 14 deficiencies per facility which may be attributed to quality of life or overall safety.
Family members must be proactive if a loved one is in a nursing home because they often can not speak up for themselves. This is particularly true if the nursing home in which your family member resides scored very low in this study.
The sad reality is that nursing homes can be very profitable especially if costs are cut by sacrificing care. If a family member has been injured by nursing home abuse or neglect it is imperative that you contact an attorney to help protect their rights and ensure proper treatment. Contact our office right away for a free consultation.