(859) 312-5617OUR MISSION
We are a non-profit organization
dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives
of the 23,000 “Forgotten Kentuckians” in nursing homes
by:
1. Educating the public about the critical need to
improve the care of residents in nursing homes.
2. Advocating for laws and regulations that will ensure
that nursing home residents will be safe and
comfortable.
OUR TOP 5 OBJECTIVES
1. EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS... Launch a series
of educational seminars to educate the public about the
issues facing nursing home residents in Kentucky.
2. QUALITY STAFFING STANDARDS... Work to get
legislation passed in Kentucky and Washington to set
minimum staffing standards for all nursing homes.
Thirty-seven states have regulations on nursing home
staffing, but not Kentucky. This would be
legislation mandating the minimum ratio of front-line
caregivers to residents. It would not tell
nursing homes how many staff to hire. But it would
ensure that no nursing home ever go below the minimum
number of necessary staff to provide for residents’
safety and comfort. In the case of acuity problems,
nursing homes would still be able to make a professional
judgment on how many more caregivers to hire above the
safety-net minimum set by law.
3. BACKGROUND CHECKS AND DRUG TESTING... Work to
get legislation passed that would require background
checks on all nursing home employees, not just the ones
who provide direct care to residents. Also, establishing
routine random drug tests for all nursing home
employees.
4. INSPECTION TIP-OFFS... Amend a law just passed in the
2006 session of the legislature that mandates
termination of any state employee who tips off a nursing
home that they are going to be inspected by the state.
These inspections are not effective if they are not a
surprise. The law should penalize anyone – not just
state employees -- who would tip off a nursing home.
5. MORE PUBLIC EXPOSURE OF INSPECTION RESULTS... Results
of state inspections of nursing homes are now listed on
the Medicare web site, Nursing Home Compare, and
displayed in the nursing home. This results in very
little public exposure. A law or regulation must be
passed to mandate that the Cabinet for Health and Family
Services report results of each nursing home inspection
to the news media in the local service area of the
nursing home.
OUR OTHER OBJECTIVES
POWER OF ATTORNEY ABUSE. Pass a law that
would make it possible for an individual to report to
the district court misuse of a person’s assets by a
durable power of attorney. The court could then require
an accounting and thereby stop the misuse before an
entire estate is gone. This legislation would also
clarify that the appointment of a guardian or
conservator revokes or limits a durable power of
attorney.
TAKE POLITICS OUT. Make the state long-term care ombudsman a state merit
system appointment, not a political appointment as it is
now.
FIRE SAFETY.
Strengthen laws and regulations on fire safety in all
nursing homes in the state.
STAFF POSTING. Monitor the compliance of the federal regulation to post
numbers of staff for each shift in every nursing home.
DENTAL CARE.
Create a program to ensure better dental care in nursing
homes.
MENTAL HEALTH.
Establish programs for screening and treating nursing
home residents for depression and other mental health
disorders.
ALZHEIMER’S TRAINING. Pass effective legislation to set up training programs
for all nursing homes on how to care for patients with
dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.
ANTI-PSYCHOTICS.
Begin a study of the use of anti-psychotic drugs in
nursing homes in the state.
FEEDING ASSISTANTS. Monitor the effectiveness of the new feeding assistant
program.
FUNDING OMBUDS.
Ensure that there is the funding necessary to keep
full-time nursing home ombudsmen in all 15 of the
state’s Area Development Districts.
UK. Encourage the University of Kentucky to: (1) make the
new retirement center at Spindletop available for
research on long-term care, (2) establish an endowed
chair in long-term care, (3) establish an Institute on
Long-Term Care, and (4) utilize the UK Cooperative
Extension Service for delivering information on
long-term care to all the counties of the state.
CORONER PROGRAM. Explore legislation to mandate that all coroners in the
state investigate every death in a nursing home to
determine any existence of abuse and neglect, and fund a
state-sponsored training program for coroners.
QUALITY EFFICIENCY. Closely monitor federal and state quality organizations,
such as Health Care Excel, to determine if they are
utilizing taxpayer funding effectively.
TORT REFORM. Closely monitor movements toward so-called “tort reform”
initiatives on the state and national level.