Tragic Truths About Tennessee Nursing Homes
Tennessee nursing homes did not fare well under the new rating system instituted by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Tennessee ranks third worst in the nation in ratings and 30% of its nursing homes received a one star rating - the worst possible. Only the states of Louisiana and Georgia ranked lower than Tennessee in ratings.
Ratings are based on state inspections, staffing levels, and quality measures, such as percentage of residents suffering from pressure sores, urinary tract infections, etc. and ratings are based on as much as three years of accumulated information.
Forty-one percent of Tennessee nursing homes had the lowest possible score in staffing levels and twenty-five percent of nursing homes ranked much below average in quality of care.
Tennessee has had a history of an unprecedented number of nursing home complaints. In 2007, the state conducted 3,035 complaint surveys. For the 2008 survey period from January to early October, that number significantly jumped to 3,694.
