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USA says more must be done to protect vulnerable Hoosiers
April 28, 2006
In the wake of a new national report highlighting tragic cases of abuse and neglect in long term care
facilities, United Senior Action of Indiana (USA) - a statewide senior advocacy organization - says that
far too many Hoosier nursing home residents are victims of the same shameful care and treatment
chronicled in the publication. To combat abuse and neglect in Indiana nursing facilities, USA is calling
for minimum staffing standards and stronger enforcement of regulations, and is urging Senators Evan
Bayh and Richard Lugar to oppose federal medical malpractice legislation that would make it virtually
impossible for nursing home residents to hold facilities accountable through the civil justice system
even when serious harm, or even death, has occurred.
The report, The Faces of Neglect: Behind the Closed Doors of Nursing Homes, released today by the
National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, recounts the heartrending stories of 36 residents
of long term care facilities who suffered abuse and neglect in 12 states. When chronic understaffing
led to egregious care and the government failed to act, these residents and their families brought
suit as their only way to seek justice and accountability.
Although Indiana is not one of the 12 states included in this report, Robyn Grant, Long Term Care Policy
Director for USA, notes that the "faces" in the national book could easily be "Hoosier faces." Grant
said that Indiana nursing home residents also experience the type of abuse and neglect portrayed in the
publication: horrendous and painful pressure sores, contractures, infections, injuries from falls
due to lack of supervision, and even death. "It is truly unconscionable that instead of receiving
necessary and humane care at a time when they need it the most, there are elderly and disabled
residents in Indiana who experience avoidable pain and suffering with terrible, often fatal consequences,"
Grant commented.
The national report states that one of the underlying reasons that neglect and abuse occur in long term
care facilities is well-documented chronic understaffing. A federal government study in 2001 determined
that residents who receive less than 2 hours of care per day from certified nursing assistants are at
risk of harm, and that residents require at least 4.1 hours of total nursing services daily to obtain
adequate care. In Indiana Medicaid nursing homes, the average number of hours of care given by aides
is 1.83, while the total nursing hours per resident day is 3.11. Grant said, "The number one concern we
hear from residents and families is that there is not enough staff to provide residents with even the
most basic care they need. It is appalling to think that there are nursing home residents in this
state who go to bed hungry or thirsty at night because of insufficient staffing. That's why one of
USA's top priorities is to establish minimum staffing standards in Indiana."
Data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office indicate that about 300,000 elderly and disabled
residents live in chronically deficient nursing homes. In 2004, almost 25% of Indiana's facilities
were cited for causing residents actual harm or immediate jeopardy (a situation in which residents
have suffered or are likely to suffer serious injury, impairment, or death). Unfortunately, according
to Grant, the consumer experience in Indiana is that when horrific lapses in care happen, the systems
designed to protect residents and hold facilities accountable - the Department of Health and health
care professional licensing boards - are frequently inadequate and ineffective. USA is calling for
government regulators in Indiana to improve the state's enforcement mechanisms so that there is zero
tolerance of resident abuse and neglect.
In Faces of Neglect, residents and their families had nowhere else to turn
but the courts when egregious harm occurred, and little to nothing was done. Yet, instead of cracking
down on negligent caregivers and passing legislation to improve nursing home care, the U.S. Senate is
considering a medical malpractice bill that would impose caps on non-economic damages (damages designed
to compensate for pain and suffering). The national report points out that since the cost of bringing
a nursing home abuse or neglect case to trial is so high, it would be financially impossible for
attorneys to bring such cases if caps were in place. As a result, residents would be effectively
denied their constitutional right to a trial by jury and lose their last resort for holding nursing
homes and the big corporations that run them accountable for gross negligence.
USA is urging both Senators Bayh and Lugar to fight passage of any medical malpractice bill that would
shut many abused and neglected residents out of courtrooms across the nation and in Indiana. "We need
to do more - not less - to protect frail and vulnerable nursing home residents," said Grant. "When
residents are betrayed by the facility whose job it is to provide the care they need and then
betrayed by the agencies whose job it is to assure their safety and well being, we must preserve the
only recourse left to these individuals - the civil justice system."
Grant stressed that there are good nursing homes in Indiana with dedicated staff who work hard to
provide quality care. However, she notes that there are too many facilities where this is not the
case. "Faces of Neglect serves as a wake-up call to our policy makers that we can and must do better
to eliminate the severe, unnecessary suffering that the document depicts," Grant commented.
For Further Information:
Robyn Grant
317-687-3659
rgrant@usaindiana.org
Excerpts from Faces of Neglect can be accessed by going to:
http://www.nccnhr.org/action_center/366_1994_12825.cfm
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