Sickening story: Private investors purchasing nursing homes, making millions, patients are suffering

[dajoki]

More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes
By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: September 23, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/23nursing.html?th&emc=th

<<snip>>

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

<<snip>>

The typical nursing home acquired by a large investment company before 2006 scored worse than national rates in 12 of 14 indicators that regulators use to track ailments of long-term residents. Those ailments include bedsores and easily preventable infections, as well as the need to be restrained. Before they were acquired by private investors, many of those homes scored at or above national averages in similar measurements.

<<snip>>

The Byzantine structures established at homes owned by private investment firms also make it harder for regulators to know if one company is responsible for multiple centers. And the structures help managers bypass rules that require them to report when they, in effect, pay themselves from programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

<<snip>>

When Mrs. Hewitt sued Habana over her mother’s death, for example, she found that its owners and managers had spread control of Habana among 15 companies and five layers of firms.

Previous Articles in the Series:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/series/golden_opportunites/index.html

[givemebackmycountry]

1. Prisons and the death of the elderly and sick

It's good business!
What's the problem?

:sarcasm:

[Donnachaidh]

2. This has been going on for YEARS

Nursing homes have been the "hidden little shameful horror" in the States for years. I'm always shocked by these articles that play this situation up as new - it's not. We have more nursing homes now, and more elderly. And of course, it's not just the *private investors* - medical corporations (ie, groups of doctors) have been sucking on the teat of Medicare for years, while providing nothing more than a high cost bed and little real medical service to the elderly forced into these homes by either circumstances or families who cannot or will not care for them.

[dajoki]

9. I know...

but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Its getting worse!! When there is a problem, there should be answers. Somebody is not doing what they're supposed to be doing.

[Traveling_Home]

11. Support Community Choice Act (S. 799) - EOM

[LittleClarkie]

26. Some are okay. I made sure before my dad had to go in one that it was okay.

And I was there every day. I'm sure that helped with his care.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Sounds like mental institutions or orphanages of yesteryear. Bleech. Fuckers.

[Traveling_Home]

7. They are the Mental Institution of Today

Lots of Info in the Disability Forum - Check it out!!!!

http://www.stevegoldada.com/stevegoldada/archive.php?mode=A&id=220

20% of all Nursing Home residents are Mentally Ill, 64% of Nursing Home residents recieve psychoactive drugs (most for ease of staff, obviously, since only 20% are dx as MI)

Who is prescribing 63.9% of the residents with psychoactive drugs?
Psychiatrists? Geriatric psychiatrists who are familiar with the medically
appropriate use of these drugs? Doctors who may have no familiarity, training or
experience with these? How often are residents medically reevaluated regarding
continued use of these drugs?

Below are the statewide percentages of residents in nursing homes who in 2005
had a psychological diagnosis OTHER than dementia:

Alabama 24.5%
Alaska 18.7%
Arizona 14.7%
Arkansas 18.5%
California 19.2%
Colorado 14.9%
Connecticut 13.2%
Delaware 19.0%
D. C. 17.7%
Florida 19.7%
Georgia 18.9%
Hawaii 7.2%
Idaho 14.8%
Illinois 23.6%
Indiana 17.6%
Iowa 17.3%
Kansas 22.0%
Kentucky 22.0%
Louisiana 27.5%
Maine 16.6%
Maryland 16.0%
Massachus 20.9%
Michigan 16.4%
Minnesota 18.9%
Mississippi 26.3%
Missouri 20.3%
Montana 13.5%
Nebraska 20.0%
Nevada 16.3%
New Hampshire 19.5%
New Jersey 14.8%
New Mexico 17.0%
New York 16.5%
North Carolina 15.4%
North Dakota 19.7%
Ohio 28.8%
Oklahoma 21.4%
Oregon 15.0%
Pennsylvania 17.3%
Rhode Island 14.5%
South Carolina 15.1%
South Dakota 23.6%
Tennessee 23.0%
Texas 23.4%
Utah 14.2%
Vermont 13.8%
Virginia 15.3%
Washington 15.3%
West Virginia 25.2%
Wisconsin 16.0%
Wyoming 11.0%

Our Homes Not Nursing Homes - Support ADAPT ([e-mail])

[Lint Head]

4. Who said taking advantage of the old and helpless wasn't

a money making idea. My mother was in a nursing home. We had no choice because of the 24hour care she needed. I raised hell with them because of the treatment she received. Thank God she didn't have to stay there too long. She didn't know who her family was and past away shortly after she entered the home.
The creeps that run these places are in it for the money only. They take no oath, as a doctor does, to 'first do no harm'.
I really wonder what happens to the elderly when they are in a home, funded by their benefits or savings, and the money runs out.
I wouldn't put it past the greedy assholes to let the person die from neglect. Who would really know. Especially if they had no relatives or friends to even remember who they were. :dem:

[dajoki]

8. So sad, but so true...

This stuff just makes my blood boil. I've been reading too much of similar situations lately and it just seems the problem is getting worse in the entire healthcare industry(a shame it has to be called industry). Sorry about your mother, I hope she didn't suffer.

[Beausoir]

5. Read the article in the NYTimes today. Old, sick people are a hot commodity.

Who knew?

It really is a new low for society...when we try and cash in on old people to fatten our wallets.

[Traveling_Home]

6. Good Thread about the Article Here......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1884983

Support the Community Choice Act (S.799)

OUR HOMES NOT NURSING HOMES - Support ADAPT - Giver Them a DU Shoutout [e-mail]

[dajoki]

18. I can't open the link

[e-mail] - I get an error message on my computer.

[Traveling_Home]

25. That's their email for a DU shout out. Web is www.adapt.org eom

[dajoki]

31. Thank You

:hi:

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Stop Whining About The Old And Infirm

Look, these people are incapable of bundling hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions, so why should we do anything for them?

Sheesh!

(yes, :sarcasm:)

[shireen]

12. one day, we will be them

i wish i believed in karma, because if it were true, the assholes would be getting a dose of their own medicine someday.

There are moral reasons to make the final years of our loved ones comfortable and dignified. But even for the morally-challenged, there are also selfish reasons to do it. Stop this abuse NOW, because, if it continues out of control, someday that person with the festering bed sores, unable to control bodily functions and lying in unchanged sheets, will be YOU and ME.

[Donnachaidh]

15. my son's class was scheduled to visit a nursing home

and 50% of the PARENTS went into a screeching hissy fit about it. It was cancelled. *They* didn't want their kids seeing *old people* -- can you believe it?

I spoke to the teacher, and we were both stunned by the pretty much EVIL responses from these so-called parents.

They definitely weren't thinking ahead -- because those kids will have no idea what a nursing home is. That is, until those parents stroke out and the kids need somewhere to dump them.

Karma, baby, karma. Sometimes you don't have to wait till the next life to get karmic backlash.

[dajoki]

20. I don't get it...

Why would these parents be afraid of their children visiting a nursing home, not to mention the evil responses? I guess its a reflection of society itself, it has gotten to be a mean and cold world.

[Donnachaidh]

21. That's why I spoke to his teacher, she was stunned too

Most of these kids *don't* have grandparents close by to relate to. Neither one of us could figure out *why* - unless it was some sick idea that it would scare the kids about getting older.

It *is* getting to be a mean, hard and COLD world, at least where I live.

[dajoki]

24. How about teaching the kids...

some respect and giving them a feeling of satisfaction in doing something for someone less fortunate? Maybe they would enjoy it and learn something along the way. Our elders have been through quite a bit and could pass some useful wisdom along to the younger generations.

[Donnachaidh]

27. I think that was the point of the trip, but the parental kibosh stopped it.

Hell, most of those kids (this is several years later) don't know how to talk to their parents, or other adults. I suspect those parents are going to regret keeping their kids from seeing the nursing home later on. Especially when the parents get sick and need care.

[dajoki]

30. Were there that many parents...

against it that they had to ruin it for everybody, or could they just have taken the ones that were "allowed" to go? Seems like there could have been some kind of compromise.

I also believe these parents will live to regret their decision. Not only when the parents get sick and need care, but throught their children's lives. Who knows, maybe one or more of the kids would have picked up a nugget of wisdom that could help them out of a jam or prevent them from getting into one in the future.

Besides, what kind of message are they giving to their children? Is it that older people don't matter, poor people don't matter, sick people don't matter? I just think it teaches a lack of respect and apathy at least.

Sorry for the rant, but this kind of stuff bugs me--Dajoki

[Bitwit1234]

13. Sounds like what they did when the privatized the VA.

Fired most of the staff and left the patients wanting.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. Funny.

All of a sudden I am thinking about nursing home owners, their intestines and garden hose reels and the intersection of all three.

The things that just jump into my head...

[PA Democrat]

16. OMG. The Carlyle Group is buying nursing homes.

[dajoki]

22. The Carlyle Group on Healthcare...

http://www.thecarlylegroup.com/eng/industry/investment2148.html

Healthcare

Carlyle’s global network of healthcare investment professionals spans both venture and buyout opportunities on three continents.

Investment Approach

The U.S. healthcare industry continues to grow steadily, fueled by the continued aging of the U.S population, coupled with the desire for improved quality of care. Despite this growth, healthcare companies have seen a period of volatility due to changes in government and market regulations.

Drawing on the industry experience of global healthcare head Karen Bechtel, Carlyle sees opportunity in those companies that are able to adapt most rapidly to this dynamic environment. “Against this demographic and regulatory backdrop, Carlyle sees significant opportunity,” says Bechtel. “At the same time, the current indifference of the public markets to healthcare providers should create opportunities to acquire assets at attractive valuations.”

Through both buyout and venture funding, Carlyle invests in undervalued companies led by seasoned management that hold a competitive edge in the dynamic healthcare industry.

http://www.thecarlylegroup.com/eng/company/l3-company735.html

[shenmue]

17. Bastards

:grr: :nuke:

All some people care about is the almighty dollar. :puke: We have got to stop people like this; it's a crime wave all over America.

[lapislzi]

19. This is why I reserve the right to off myself at any time

I would rather be dead than forced to live that way. I hope that if I am faced with such a fate I will still have the faculties to take myself out.

[sarcasmo]

23. Kick, this country is full of greedy SOB's.

[AuntPatsy]

28. Nothing new here carry on.

[Virginia Dare]

29. Why do you hate free market capitalism...

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:are you suggesting the government take over caring for the sick, the helpless, the elderly and the infirm, you commie pinko? :sarcasm: :sarcasm: