New York’s Nursing Home Enforcement Has Been Inadequate
Alarming reasons why YOU should hire or consult a new york nursing home lawyer
A Report on NY State Nursing Homes filed on March 12, 2001 for state reform
This 3 page summary is from a report & highlights from a nursing home injury & neglect government report on NY State Nursing Homes filed on March 12, 2001 for state reform from document: Prepared for Rep. Louise M. Slaughter and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney Minority Staff Special Investigations Division Committee on Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives
Your loved ones death or injuries may have been caused by a neglect or poor quality of care as outlined in this government report summary. Contact this law firm if you believe any of the below happened to you or someone you know
Report Overview & Highlights
NY Nursing Home Problem:
- There are over 100,000 nursing home residents living in over 600 nursing homes in New
York State. These nursing home residents are often frail, elderly, and unable to take care of their
basic needs. Sometimes, they cannot even speak out when they are neglected or abused. Their
health and well-being depends on the quality of care they receive from the nursing home.
To protect these vulnerable residents, Congress enacted federal health and safety
standards in 1987.
- This law and its implementing regulations require nursing homes to provide
clean living conditions, adequate nutrition, and proper medical care to residents. The primary
responsibility for ensuring compliance with these health and safety standards belongs to the
states. In New York, this enforcement responsibility has been delegated to the New York State
Department of Health.
Discovery:
• New York inspectors missed many serious violations. When federal nursing home
inspectors visited a nursing home after New York inspectors conducted an inspection, the
federal inspectors consistently found many violations missed by the state inspectors. On
average, the federal inspectors found over twice as many violations -- and over three
times as many serious violations -- as the state inspectors. The violations missed by the
state inspectors include violations involving the abuse of residents, the improper use of
restraints, and inadequate medical care.
• New York inspectors conducted inadequate investigations. When federal nursing
home inspectors accompanied New York inspectors on nursing home inspections, federal
inspectors often found that the New York inspectors did a poor job of enforcing federal
nursing home standards. Federal inspectors found that New York inspectors committed
“egregious omissions” and missed “overwhelming evidence of widespread quality of care
problems.”
• New York inspectors found fewer violations than inspectors in other states. Each
state conducts annual inspections of nursing homes to determine their compliance with
federal health and safety standards. Compared to other states, New York inspectors
found fewer violations of these standards. In 2000, inspectors in other states found 30%
more violations per nursing home than New York inspectors. The low number of
violations do not appear to be the result of better conditions in New York nursing homes.
• New York inspectors dismissed most nursing home complaints. New York has done a
poor job responding to complaints of nursing home neglect and abuse. On average, New
York inspectors dismissed 84% of nursing home complaints in 1999 without initiating
enforcement action based on the complaint. New York inspectors initiated enforcement
proceedings based on a complaint only 16% of the time, which was only half of the
national average.
read more Missed Violations -Nursing Home Danger
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