Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Stark & Stark Law Firm : Elder Care, Senior Care

Here is an article I recently read, which outlines not only allegations of abuse, but also retaliation against a whistle blower who reported the abuse. The article contains helpful links for families looking to research nursing homes.

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One of the most important responsibilities of nursing home owners is to treat their employees well.  This leads to a positive environment, which fosters good care and enthusiasm among staff.  As may be seen, the opposite is alleged here in an article stating that the Union City's Manhattan View Nursing Home is being sued by the United States Department of Labor. The suit is seeking unpaid overtime wages for employees of Manhattan View over the past several years.

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I found an article the other day relating to recent legislation that passed in Tennessee to increase options for elderly health care. Two bills sponsored by Tennessee Sate Senators passed the Senate aimed at helping elderly or disabled Tennesseans receive more options in their health care, including staying in their homes for as long as possible.The long term care legislation is part of a series of bills aiming to help citizens “age in place.”

The two bills will broaden the definition of assisted living to include hospice services and make it clear that any assisted-care living facility resident who qualifies for hospice care under Medicare can continue those services and also receive reimbursement for assisted living services.

I think this is a wonderful piece of legislation that I hope will make its way across the country in order to provide increased assistance for our elderly. You can read more on the bills here.

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After receiving tremendous pressure from advocacy groups, CMS has released its expanded list of the most troubled nursing homes in the country.  These are known as "Special Focus Facilities." 
 
Acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems disclosed at a special media briefing Thursday that the “Special Focus Facilities” list had actually grown to 131 nursing homes with poor survey records. The list will continually be in flux, noting the next public update will be in April.

In response to a McKnight's reporter's question, Weems also clarified that from now on providers would be given brief advance notice of their inclusion on the dubious list but no others would learn of list contents until results are refreshed online. When CMS went public for the first time ever, but with just the partial list, in November, consumer advocates loudly complained that nursing home lobbyists and associations had been given the full list, while the general public had not.
 
In New Jersey, there are currently only three facilities on the list.  Two of these are listed under the category, "Improving," while the other, sadly, is now a veteran of the listing, in the list of "Facilities That Have Not Improved."
 
It will interesting to see if inclusion on this list will provide extra incentive for these troubled homes to improve the quality of care - and thus reduce the unacceptable quantity of  nursing home injuries and abuse.

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I recently found a great website for families looking to investigate nursing homes.  The website offers a list of nursing home throughout the country that are in danger of harming it's residents. The site breaks down the potentially harmful home into three categories:

- a red code equals actual harm and/or immediate jeopardy
- a yellow code equals the potential for more than minimal harm
- a blue code equals the potential for minimal harm

In this link, there exist some significant problems at a facility known as Plaza Regency at Park Ridge, in Park Ridge, New Jersey.  I strongly urge our Blog readers to explore this helpful site.

You can access the website here.

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I found this article which I feel is a very informative article on the improvements and continuing problems of nursing home care 20 years after the Nursing Home Reform Act. Although some changes have come about, there is still much work to be done.

The Kaiser Family Foundation that examines the progress nursing homes have made over the past 20 years since the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (also known as the Nursing Home Reform Act) became law reports that though the new act has been in place for over 20 years, there has not been a significant enough change.

You can read more the Nursing Home Reform Act and the Kaiser Family Foundation's study here.

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Below is an extraordinarily promising article involving a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.  A very significant component of nursing home and Assisted Living populations includes physically healthy individuals with developing Alzheimer's. 

The drug, Enbrel - commonly used to treat arthritis, in recent tests has shown to reverse the effects of Alzheimer's Disease in just minutes. Enbrel is believed to assist those with Alzheimer's by delivering the same relief the drug offers arthritis patients. The drug, which is used to relieve the inflammation in joints of people suffering from arthritis, researchers now believe can reduce the inflammation in the brain of people suffering from Alzheimer's.

This article offer some hope for the many families and patients suffering from this devastating illness.

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