February 2, 2023 Nursing Home Neglect: Primary Cause of Bedsores According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), more than 2.5 million people in the United States develop pressure ulcers, or bedsores, each year. Bedsores are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue that result from sustained pressure on the skin. They are accompanied by an array of medical complications; some of these … Read More »
April 15, 2021 What is the Five-Star Rating System for Nursing Homes? The five-star rating system for nursing homes was introduced by the U.S. government in 2009 to help families find high-quality nursing home care for their elderly loved ones. However, placing a loved one in a five-star rated facility does not guarantee they will be safe from nursing home negligence. Studies have revealed flaws in the five-star … Read More »
August 12, 2020 Pennsylvania to Spend $175 Million to Improve Coronavirus Nursing Home Safety There are approximately 700 nursing homes – and nearly 2,000 long-term care facilities – in Pennsylvania, all of which have been struggling to maintain health and safety efforts as the Coronavirus continues to spread. Officials first raised concerns over catastrophic nursing home safety failures just months ago. In response, the state decided to funnel $175 … Read More »
June 8, 2020 Pennsylvania DOH Releases Data on Coronavirus Nursing Home Deaths After facing weeks of pressure, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has finally released data on how many patients have died from Coronavirus, or COVID-19, in each nursing homes across the state. Residents of skilled nursing facilities account for more than two-thirds of the total deaths in Pennsylvania. So far, more than 5,800 Pennsylvanians have … Read More »
August 6, 2019 New Rule Could Hurt Injured Nursing Home Residents The current administration is proposing a new rule for how injured nursing home residents are able to pursue damages against negligent long-term care facilities. Existing law allows injured individuals to go to trial by jury when filing a claim. If passed, the new rule would force them and their families exclusively into the arbitration process. … Read More »
July 30, 2019 Nursing Home Residents Stranded When Care Facilities Go Out of Business During its prime, Skyline Healthcare managed or owned more than 100 nursing facilities in 11 states. But when the company started to fail two years ago, more than one dozen of its facilities were shut down and nearly 1,000 residents were forced to relocate – and many were given barely any warning. This is not … Read More »
April 23, 2019 Fines Against Negligent Nursing Homes Lowered, Endangering Patient Safety Because of recent changes in regulations, financial penalties against negligent nursing homes are dropping, to the detriment of patient safety. In 2016, the average fine was more than $41,000, now it is $28,405. Negligent nursing homes are fined when they endanger residents or are responsible for a victim’s injuries. Opponents of the new rule, which … Read More »
November 15, 2017 Nursing Home Abuse Largely Underreported According to a report compiled by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) through the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), over one-third of nursing home abuse cases fail to be reported to law enforcement agencies. As a result, vulnerable patients who should be receiving comprehensive care continue to be put at risk for … Read More »
October 13, 2017 Where Were Emergency AC Systems During the Hurricane? After Hurricane Wilma hit Florida in 2005, state legislators took action to try to protect especially vulnerable populations in the case of another hurricane. One proposal would have required nursing homes to install generators able to power cooling systems, so that patients would be protected from exposure to dangerous temperatures. But when the bill reached … Read More »
