Nursing Home Deficiencies: If Inspectors Miss Them, Who Will Protect Our Loved Ones From Abuse?
Nursing homes typically face inspection only once a year by state government employees. A May 2008 report from the Government Accountability Office has uncovered a startling fact: at least one serious deficiency is missed in 15% of inspections reviewed by federal officials. Worse, in a review of surveys from 2002 to 2007, inspectors in nine states missed serious deficiencies in more than 25% of the surveys. States noted to miss serious deficiencies were Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming. Nationwide, one-fifth of the facilities were cited for serious deficiencies.
As a solution to the worsening conditions in nursing home facilities, the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvements Act bill has been introduced before Congress. This bill is designed to force nursing home facilities to provide the general public, as well as the federal government, with more information concerning facility and corporation ownership and related individuals and/or companies that participate in the day-to-day operations of the facilities. It would also increase maximum fines for a serious deficiency from $10,000 to $25,000 and $100,000 for a wrongful death.