More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes

[babylonsister]

More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes

By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: September 23, 2007


Habana Health Care Center, a 150-bed nursing home in Tampa, Fla., was struggling when a group of large private investment firms purchased it and 48 other nursing homes in 2002.

The facility’s managers quickly cut costs. Within months, the number of clinical registered nurses at the home was half what it had been a year earlier, records collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicate. Budgets for nursing supplies, resident activities and other services also fell, according to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration.

The investors and operators were soon earning millions of dollars a year from their 49 homes.

Residents fared less well. Over three years, 15 at Habana died from what their families contend was negligent care in lawsuits filed in state court. Regulators repeatedly warned the home that staff levels were below mandatory minimums. When regulators visited, they found malfunctioning fire doors, unhygienic kitchens and a resident using a leg brace that was broken.

“They’ve created a hellhole,” said Vivian Hewitt, who sued Habana in 2004 when her mother died after a large bedsore became infected by feces.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/23nursing.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

[unhappycamper]

1. I posted this earlier today from the Boston Globe.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1881819

The thing that caught my eye:

Those investors include prominent private equity firms like Warburg Pincus and the Carlyle Group, better known for buying companies like Dunkin' Donuts.

[babylonsister]

2. Yep, that caught my eye as well. I had it hilighted until I realized I

had exceeded my posting/para limits (I had a good teacher :P ) Now there's no reason Carlyle would be investing here unless they knew they could make some good money. And we know they don't care about 'the little people', as witnessed by all the cutbacks made. Pretty disgusting.

[liberalnurse]

3. I believe it is much worse that this!

These cases are only the cases that have families who risk speaking up.

The Nursing Home Association, and various corporate long term care systems in the Ohio area are the largest contributors to our republican state legislator campaigns.......realtors association and construction are the others.

As a result of this $$$....our republican state legislators placed on the "must pass" State Budget Bill the allowance of Med Techs to pass medication to the Nursing Homes. The qualifications do not require a HS Diploma...just a 2 week nurse aide class with an additional week for med pass training!:wow: :scared: :nuke:

The system has no tracking process of injury/error and limited accountability for the Med Tech. at this time!

ONA had fought this successfully for 8 years until our republican speaker of the house "stuck" this into the budget bill!