New York Nursing Homes Increasingly Out of Compliance with Care Guidelines, State Officials Say

New York state health inspectors are increasingly finding "serious problems" at nursing homes, adding that nine of every 10 homes inspected this year were out of compliance with federal guidelines for long term care, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports. According to a Health Department report published on July 10, the state inspected 52 homes in January and found that all but four were "out of substantial compliance" with the regulations. Twenty-four of the homes were cited for "problems" resulting in harm to residents, and of these, 17 had conditions that put residents in "immediate jeopardy," the "toughest rebuke" the state can issue. Instances of neglect included a resident who required emergency care after staff failed to properly monitor her reaction to new heart medication. State health officials say fewer homes than ever before are meeting the regulations governing standards of care, findings they say "reflect a distressing pattern." Health Department spokesperson Robert Kenny said, "What we know now is that more and more homes are being cited for violations and for more and more serious violations than before." Industry officials attribute the problem to a "chronic shortage" of workers, which is allowing residents to "fall through the cracks." The industry also points to a "new enforcement program" that the state implemented after receiving criticism that it was not doing enough to monitor nursing home care. Nursing home officials say the standards used in state inspections are "nitpicky" and don't measure true quality. "The Health Department is issuing report cards that only have C's and D's and F's. This process really focuses only on the negative. There are thousands of New Yorkers who are receiving high-quality care in nursing homes every day," said Dan Curran, a spokesperson for the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (Heath, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, 7/11).