In a controversial push for transparency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveils an icon on its website that is placed next to nursing homes with reported abuse, negligence or exploitation. CMS states that less than 5% of the 15,000 nursing homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid will get this icon
Levels of Severity
Nursing home citations range in severity on a scale from A – L, A being a minor infraction and L being severe.
A report conducted on Florida area nursing homes showed:
94% increase in G-level violations or higher from 2017-2019
Florida nursing homes were cited for 3,958 violations, with 94 being G severity or higher in 2017-2018.
From 2018-2019, overall violations only increased by 300, but severe instances nearly doubled.
Importance of Reporting
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, released a report based on a review of 37,607 emergency room Medicare claims for residents in nursing homes.
From this data, 256 claims were randomly selected for further investigation. Over 50 claims, or 20% of them were the result of potential abuse. In addition, to the identified claims, most abuse was not reported to law enforcement.
Across the United States
The impact of nursing home negligence is nationwide, however states like Indiana are facing understaffed, under-supported nursing homes. This leads to patients being severely injured, uncared for, and passing away due to their injuries. For example, Sicely Daulton, an amputee with one leg, fell 15 times during her stay at Aperion Care Kokomo Nursing Home. Her largest fall, when she was left to shower unsupervised, caused injuries that lead to her death.
Aperion Care Kokomo was recently cited for more than 40 deficiencies — five times the national average. They found putrid conditions that included soiled furniture, sticky floors and rooms reeking of urine.
Other instances include allowing bedsores to become severely infected, in many cases, a nursing home will delay sending residents to the hospital despite green, cloudy, slimy, and foul smelling drainage. By the time some residents are finally admitted to the hospital, the doctors find wounds deeply infected, which oftentimes leads to death.
Delaware has had its fair share of nursing home negligence. As recently as 2019, Newark Manor Nursing Home, located on West Main Street, was found to be providing “substandard and worthless care” to its residents.
Help is Here
If you fear your loved one is a victim of nursing home neglect, it is crucial to report it to the authorities and to hire a lawyer for your financial protection. Kimmel, Carter, Roman, Peltz, & O’Neill has been Delaware’s trusted personal injury, workers compensation, and nursing home neglect law firm for almost 50 years.
