PROFITS OVER PATIENTS; NURSING HOME RESIDENTS DIDN’T NEED TO DIE

1. Lobbyists for big nursing home chains are working overtime right now to           persuade state legislators that their clients, like everyone else in this         coronavirus pandemic, need a bailout. They want a “Get out of Jail Free”         card. These nursing home chains are making a fortune, still earning their           revenue during this pandemic, unlike other industries.                                                              Sixteen states, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Michigan, have           passed new laws granting immunity from lawsuits to nursing homes that           were hard hit by COVID-19, according to an article published yesterday in           the New York Times. No doubt, lawmakers think they are doing the right             thing by passing new measures, reasoning that these facilities might face           massive lawsuits and liability from the staggering number of deaths at their           institutions. And, indeed, a fifth of U.S. virus deaths are linked to nursing             facilities.                                                                                              Unfortunately, lawmakers’ good intentions have unintended consequences.       Instead of holding nursing home operators accountable for inadequate           infection control procedures and understaffing, immunity grants will only         serve to reward them further massively. As their residents die, those           long-term care homes will quickly fill the vacant beds will new residents for             whom the reimbursement rates will be higher. And best of all, they will face           no consequences for their lapses in hygiene, infection control, and           understaffing. Instead of the worst chains being held accountable and, dare           we hope, forced to go out of business, they can instead look forward to               windfall profits at the expense of taxpayers and the senior citizen           casualties in their facilities.                                                                                                                          Let’s stop to think. During this pandemic, have ​all nursing homes seen the             same infection and death rates? If you look carefully, there is a           disproportionate number of nursing home deaths in individual facilities.                                              

2. Some researchers are looking for a correlation between facilities with low             government ratings and a higher incidence of death among residents. But           that analysis misses the point. The real question to ask is much simpler:             are all nursing homes seeing the same death rates? The answer is no.             Some facilities have no deaths, while others have massive death rates.           How can that be? The answer is simple. Facilities that rigorously follow               guidelines for infection controls and sufficient staffing levels are         well-prepared for the pandemic. All nursing homes should be more than           capable of handling whatever comes along, no matter what the infection is.           All they need to do to limit outbreaks is to adhere to the right procedures –                   staffing, provide PPE equipment, and maintain adequate infection control         practices.                                                                                                                                      The idea that no facilities could prevent massive numbers of deaths from             the novel coronavirus is a smokescreen. It’s straightforward and super           simple: facilities that follow procedures will see few or no deaths; ones that         don’t will witness massive numbers of deaths.                                          Don’t be duped by greedy and reckless nursing home operators, and save             your pity for the people who need it, namely the innocent elderly residents                 of long-term care facilities who are now being slaughtered by the hundreds.             Stop elder neglect and abuse.                                    Attorney Wendy York of York Law Firm specializes in prosecuting elder             abuse and wrongful death cases. For further information, please visit us at             www.yorklawcorp.com