Nursing Homes: More Profit and Less Nursing

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

The New York Times analyzed records collected for Medicare and Medicaid Services and revealed that at 60% of nursing homes bought by large private equity groups in 2000 to 2006 have cut staffing and do not have the required amount of registered nurses.

For example, Habana Health Care Center in Tampa, Florida was struggling financially when a group of large private investment firms purchased it and 48 other nursing homes in 2002.

Once the facility was bought, the managers quickly cut costs and the number of clinical registered nurses was only half of what it had been a year earlier. The private investors were soon earning millions of dollars a year from their 49 homes.

According to families, 15 Habana residents died of negligent care. The nursing home was repeatedly warned by regulators about the staff levels being below mandatory minimums. Also, the regulators found malfunctioning fire doors, unhygienic kitchens and a resident using a leg brace that was broken.

For more information on this subject, please review our section on Nursing Home and Elder Abuse.