OUR 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

bullet point 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.

bullet point TAKE POLITICS OUT.  Make the state long-term care ombudsman a state merit system appointment, not a political appointment as it is now.

bullet point FIRE SAFETY.  Strengthen laws and regulations on fire safety in all nursing homes in the state.

bullet point STAFF POSTING.  Monitor the compliance of the federal regulation to post numbers of staff for each shift in every nursing home.

bullet point DENTAL CARE.  Create a program to ensure better dental care in nursing homes.

bullet point MENTAL HEALTH.  Establish programs for screening and treating nursing home residents for depression and other mental health disorders.

bullet point 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.

bullet point ANTI-PSYCHOTICS.  Begin a study of the use of anti-psychotic drugs in nursing homes in the state.

bullet point FEEDING ASSISTANTS.  Monitor the effectiveness of the new feeding assistant program.

bullet point 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.

bullet point 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.

bullet point 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.

bullet point QUALITY EFFICIENCY.  Closely monitor federal and state quality organizations, such as Health Care Excel, to determine if they are utilizing taxpayer funding effectively.

bullet point TORT REFORM.  Closely monitor movements toward so-called “tort reform” initiatives on the state and national level.

WANT TO RECEIVE OUR NEWSLETTER BY E-MAIL?

Just send us your
NAME,
HOMETOWN,
and E-MAIL ADDRESS.
[Click here!]

ABOUT US

There are no membership fees!

Our mission is to organize a volunteer force of Kentuckians who want to be a part of improving care in nursing homes, and who want to help educate the public about the problems in nursing homes, mainly the shortage of front-line caregivers.

Just send us your e-mail address
NOW!

You will begin receiving our newsletter by e-mail on nursing home reform.


Frankfort legislative hotline:
1-800-372-7181