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KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM |
“A non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of the “Forgotten Kentuckians” |
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NURSING HOME REFORM NEWSLETTER January
2, 2007 NOW ON OUR WEB SITE Many of you have told us you like this newsletter because it is short and the items are brief. There is so much information coming along every day about nursing home care, however, that we have designed a system to keep this newsletter as brief as possible, but still have all the news for you if you want it. Just go to our Web site, http://www.KyNursingHomeReform.org, and on the front page you will see NEWS NOTES. Under that will be the latest info on nursing homes we get. Like this month, go there to read: § NHs With High Numbers of Medicaid Beneficiaries Provide Lower Care § State Will Work to Prevent Illness Outbreak in Nursing Facilities § Massachusetts Pilot Project Will Pay Relatives $18,000 Annually to Care for Elderly, Disabled § Fatal Fire in Missouri Should Be Impetus Needed for Reforms § And more... WHAT WE WANT FROM THE LEGISLATURE The Kentucky General Assembly goes into action again for what they call their “short session” on Jan. 2. After a few organizational days, the Legislature takes off again until Feb. 6. Adjournment is at the end of March, so you see why they call this one a “short session.” We are hoping, nevertheless, that there will be time to get the following legislation introduced and passed. § Adequate staffing…… Once again we will ask the legislators to pass a bill that will force the nursing homes to have at least enough front-line caregivers in all nursing homes to prevent injury, abuse and neglect. § Surprise inspections…… We want to strengthen the bill that Sen. Tom Buford got passed last year and mandate that all nursing homes have a sign in their lobby notifying visitors that anyone intentionally tipping off a facility about an upcoming state inspection will be subject to a federal fine of up to $2,000; and if it’s a state employee found guilty of the tip-off, he or she will be fired. § Publicizing inspection results….. The state would notify all the media in the service area of a nursing home about the results of the annual inspection under a bill we hope will be passed. “Shining the light of day” on nursing home inspections will let the public know what kind of job their nursing home really is doing. § Power of attorney abuse…… We are hoping that Rep. Robin Webb will be back with her bill to prevent people taking advantage of nursing home residents by using the power of attorney. § Fire safety…… We will push for immediate state notification of those 15 facilities in Kentucky that do not have an adequate fire safety sprinkler systems that they must notify anyone seeking to become a resident of the fact. This is according to a bill passed last year by Rep. Susan Westrom. It is not documented, however, that the 15 facilities have been officially notified. § Random drug testing…… We will seek legislation that will mandate random drug testing for all nursing home employees. § Background checks…… We also will seek passage of legislation that will mandate criminal background checks on anyone working in a nursing home. The law now says that direct caregivers must be checked, but that leaves out the people in maintenance, the kitchen, housekeeping, etc. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Call your senator and state representative now and ask them to support nursing home reform legislation, especially on the issues as listed above. When a bill gets introduced we will alert you about it and ask that you call your legislators then, too. LEGISLATIVE THOUGHT... As we near the start of another legislature, here is an interesting thought: “….We need political leaders who believe that a public office is a public trust, who see themselves as servants of the people. We need men and women of virtue who are willing to put the good of their fellow citizens ahead of their own; people who will speak up for the poor and the weak and those in need; people who won't favor the wealthy and the powerful; people who will do justice for rich and poor alike; people who have the strength of character to resist the temptation of money and celebrity; people who have integrity and humility.” From an article, “Money:The Mother Milk of Politics,” by Ken Connor, chairman of the Center for a Just Society and an attorney with the firm of Wilkes & McHugh, known for his successful representation of victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Mr. Connor recently was the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in a case against a Frankfort nursing home where he helped win a $22 million verdict. LOUISVILE LAGS ON OMBUD WORK There’s almost twice as many nursing home beds in the Louisville area as there are in the Lexington and Northern Kentucky areas, according to data provided us by the state. Even so, Lexington area nursing home ombudsmen handle nearly four times the complaints than Louisville does; and 10 times Northern Kentucky. Louisville (142) also has more nursing homes than Lexington (139), Northern Kentucky (49) has quite a few less. The disparity in the number of people being served, says state long-term care ombudsman Larry Smith, comes from the fact that Lexington has more than $519,000 annual income and Louisville about $177,000. “While Bluegrass is a long-established program as opposed to the length of establishment of the other programs, they have also chosen to seek out non-governmental funding at such a level that they are able to actually hire their staff rather than rely heavily on volunteers,” says Mr. Smith. The Lexington agency, called the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass, has a full-time fundraiser on its staff and an active advisory board. One of their activities to raise funds, the Decorators Showcase, brings in upwards of $70,000. SHORT STUFF § North Carolina has passed the first state licensure program for nursing homes that rewards those that invest in building a high quality workforce. § Something to remember as this new year unfolds: The commissioner of the new Department of Aging and Independent Living, Deborah Anderson, last August said, “We are not closing beds (in nursing homes) except in state-run facilities.” § One of the top prosecutors of nursing home negligence in the nation, Tom Rhodes of Texas, told a Louisville crowd of lawyers: “Every nursing home case in an understaffing case.” § If Secretary Mark Birdwhistell lands an important Washington job, he will be the only Washington big-wig to have his picture posted on a bulletin board in Maggard’s General Store in Lothair, Ky. § That Lexington nursing home that was kept alive (for a while) by Federal Judge Joe Hood had 66 violations in the past three reporting periods, five of them showing actual harm. § The American Hospital Association, the bigtime lobbying organization for hospitals, suggests that requiring sprinklers in nursing homes should be phased in over five years. No statement on what to do about the residents killed in fires in that time. P.S.
It was New Year’s Eve, and a man and
his wife are dining at a table in a plush restaurant, and the husband
keeps staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sits alone at
a nearby table. -- from our good friend, Don Feltner NEWS NOTES... We get tons of information in here that affect nursing home reform. We want to share this information with those of you who are interested, but rather than putting it all in our newsletter we will post it regularly on our web site: http://www.KyNursingHomeReform.org Go there now and see what we mean.
THAT’S
IT FOR THIS TIME, BUT DON’T FORGET...
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