Not All Non-Profit Nursing Homes Operate Under With Patients Best Interest In Mind

Many families of nursing home patients have been lead to believe that 'non-profit' facilities provide better care that their 'for profit' peers.  As we recently discussed, studies do generally confirm that non-profit facilities provide superior levels of care.

Nonetheless, if you ever need a reminder that every facility-- regardless of its tax status, must be evaluated on an individual basis, take a look at this article from the Palm Beach Post.

The Post article chronicles how Maxcine Darville, managed benefit herself and her family to the detriment of the patients at her facilities.

As the CEO of the Okeechobee Council on Aging, Darville managed to reel in an annual salary of $404,000-- more than two times the state and federal average for CEO pay at non-profit nursing homes.  Ms. Darville's company operates Glades Health Care Center and The Riverfront Nursing and Rehabilitation Center-- two nursing homes with a poor records for providing quality care to their patients.

Despite obvious safety violations at Darville's facilities, the Post's investigation clearly determined that she has little interest in investing money for facility improvements.  Among the Post's findings:

  • Assistant CEO, Joanne 'Jody' Watson (Darville's daughter) was paid $200,000 plus $23,000 in expenses from two councils in 2007.  In 2008 she received $160,000 for her work.
  • The director of maintenance, Gary Watson (Darville's son) was paid $118,000 in 2007.
  • Darville spent more that $30,000 in personal expenses.  She receives $1,200 per month from her company to board an unnamed 'visiting executive' in her residence.
  • The Okeechobee Council on Aging proudly lists a woman who has been deceased for more than two years.

Medicare's Rating:

Riverfront Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Glades Health Care Center

Related:

Caring For The Elderly Pays... Especially If You Own The Nursing Home

Does Pulling Medicare Funding From Underperforming Nursing Homes Help Residents?

Nursing Home Rating System Reveals Inferior Care Provided At For-Profit Facilities

A Word To The Wise- Stay Out Of Illinois Nursing Homes

If you've been reading recent Nursing Homes Abuse Blog headlines, this will not come as a surprise, but some of the worst nursing homes in the country are right here in my backyard-- Illinois.

According to a report from the General Accounting Office (GAO), Illinois ranks has some of the worst nursing homes in the country.  After analyzing factors such as: staffing levels, prevention of bed sores (also called: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers) and prevention of abuse, the GAO report determined that 47 Illinois Nursing Homes are among the group of facilities categorized as 'most poorly' performing.

The GAO report makes several suggestions to improve nursing home care:

 

 

Expand the federal program monitoring nursing homes. 

Currently, there are 136 nursing homes across the country labeled as Special Focus Facilities (that are subject to increased inspections), the list would be substantially expanded to 580 nursing homes.

Use a national comparison for nursing homes. 

A national comparison of nursing homes would allow authorities to more accurately track troubled facilities-- regardless of their location.  The current system uses a state-by-state comparison that does not accurately reflect states with disproportionally bad nursing homes such as Illinois.

My take

I'm all for making the selection of a nursing home easier for families.  Of course, families will still need to do their homework when selecting facilities for their loved ones, but by identifying these poorly performing facilities, families can at least learn of a facilities troubles before placing a loved one there.

Compared with 'average' nursing homes, patients at poorly performing facilities were 46% more likely to harmed as a result of serious deficiencies compared with their peers at more successful facilities.

For the facilities, hopefully being publicly branded as a 'poorly performing facility' will motivate them to make changes and improve their facilities.

Lastly, it is important to look at the similarities amongst the facilities on 'most poorly' performing list.  These similarities are not mere coincidences.  As more people become aware of these trends they will be able to make better choices in selecting a facility for their loved ones.  Troubled facilities tend to:

  • Be larger, more than 102 patients per nursing home
  • Run as 'for-profit' entities
  • Part of large corporate chains
  • Have lower staffing ratios than their peers

Resources:

Special Focus Facility Initiative and List - updated September 22, 2009

Illinois ranks high on bad nursing home report, Crains, September 29, 2009

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

The Worst Nursing Homes In America

Extendicare Nursing Home Added To Government 'Watch List' Following Abuse Of Resident 

A Recipe For Danger: Nursing Shortage Could Reach 1M By 2020