Tennessee's Nursing Home Patient Protection Act - A Shameful Farce
Five years ago, a tragic fire at an NHC nursing home, formerly on Patterson Street in Nashville, Tennessee, killed 16 residents: one burned to death in the fire, six died of smoke inhalation the night of the fire, and nine more died in the ensuing weeks. The nursing home, owned by NHC of Murfeesboro, did not have a sprinkler system as none was required at the time. As a result of the fire, Tennesseee enacted legislation requiring sprinklers in all nursing facilities and was the first state to do so. The federal government enacted a law requiring nursing homes without sprinklers to have smoke detectors in every room. Thirty-two lawsuits were filed as a result of the fire and NHC settled all thirty-two suits privately within three years.
NHC and other nursing home operators are now trying to change Tennessee state law so that they do not have to bear responsibility in the future if another tragedy of this magnitude would occur. The so-called "Nursing Home Patient Protection Act" is not designed to protect our elderly, but actually designed to protect the nursing home operators. NHC, which reported over $500 million in annual gross profits in 2006 and whose CEO Robert Adams makes more than $1.3 million annually, is supporting legislation that would give residents nearly no recourse against nursing homes in the event of abuse, neglect, or death and would allow nursing home facilities to demand that residents sign arbitration agreements in order to live there. State Senator Jim Tracy (R) and State Representative Randy Rinks (D) introducted the bill that would allow nursing homes free reign over our most vulnerable citizens.
Interestingly, in Tennessee, nursing home violations and admissions suspensions are at an all time high and NHC is right in the middle of it. NHC was the owner of the nursing home where so many residents were lost on September 24, 2003. Four years after this tragedy, NHC received a state inspection report, dated June 20, 2007, for its Milan Tennessee facility. The state charged that the residents at this NHC facility were "at risk of injury or death from a fire". It appears NHC did not learn a lesson from the previous fire that killed 16 people. Instead, they have refused to protect other residents and are also seeking government protection from having to do so.
