As assisted living regulations evolve and tighten, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements fluctuate, and healthcare reform begins to take effect, many states are facing their own challenges as they continue to develop, operate, and implement new rules. Here is a collection of long-term care related stories from across the nation.
From the Baldwin City Signal: Baldwin City Memory Care Home Provides Comfort for Alzheimer’s Patients
“Scott Schultz who owns what is called a ComfortCare Home of Baldwin City with his wife, Linda, said the home was purchased, remodeled, staffed and managed as an alternative to larger skilled nursing facilities for those with cognitive impairments,” reports the Baldwin City Signal. “Facilities like that the Schultzes opened in Baldwin City with their emphasis on personal and specialized care and home-like environments, are a growing segment of the senior care market.” Read more…
From the Los Angeles Times: Motion Picture & Television Fund Fined Over Patient’s Death
“State regulators have fined the Motion Picture & Television Fund $80,000 for failing to prevent the death of a patient at its nursing home. An investigation by the California Department of Public Health found that the skilled nursing facility “failed to ensure an environment free of accident hazards with adequate supervision, leading to the death of a patient,” according to a statement released by the agency Wednesday,” reports the LA Times. “The investigation stemmed from the October 2010 fatality of Carrie Delay, a 90-year-old resident of the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s nursing home who died after falling down a stairwell at the Woodland Hills facility.” Read more…
From The Florida Times-Union: Florida House Passes Nursing Home Bill with Program Jacksonville University May Not Want
“After being quietly attached to a larger bill last week, the House has passed language that would create for Jacksonville University a 150-bed nursing home facility the school hasn’t said it wants,” reports the Time-Union’s Jacksonville.com. “The beds would be part of a pilot program to teach students who want to work with the elderly. JU’s board is officially “neutral” to the proposal, approved on Thursday, that would tie the new nursing home to its campus. But the proposal has a powerful ally in incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford, a JU graduate.” Read more…
From the Times Union: New York to Reclaim Nursing Home Patients
“New York pays $78 million to export 770 of its toughest nursing home patients in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey and other states. The state Medicaid Redesign Team, organized last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has announced plans to “repatriate” them back to New York, but the initiative faces many obstacles,” reports the Times Union. “Chief among them: New York doesn’t have enough facilities to treat the high-risk patients, and New York nursing homes don’t want them because Medicaid reimbursement rates are so low.” Read more…
From NBC 10: I-Team: State Cited More Than Half of RI Nursing Homes
“The NBC 10 I-Team has uncovered hundreds of deficiencies in dozens of nursing homes around Rhode Island. And it has uncovered new information about the target of an I-Team investigation: the Pawtuxet Village Care and Rehabilitation Center in Warwick,” reports NBC. “The I-Team has been poring over hundreds of pages of deficiency reports for the past several weeks. The reports were issued by the Department of Health to nursing homes around the state. Of the 90 nursing homes in Rhode Island, 59 have been cited by the Health Department for deficiencies that range from minor to life-threatening.” Read more…
