Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. We were able to move my grandmother to a facility within the hospital a few weeks before she died and one of the few things that brings me comfort as I grieve is that she did not take her last breath in that nursing home. There are more than 15,000 licensed nursing facilities in the U.S. With upwards of 121,000 deficiencies, that equates to just under 8 deficiencies per facility. State Supported Living Centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the AG’s office explained in a news release Friday, Nov. 6. In addition to rating how serious and widespread complaints are, the CMS data also categorizes reports by which general area the issue can be slotted into. When choosing a nursing home, it’s also important to look at the reviews. Yet a few nursing homes take advantage of those most vulnerable. Licensed nursing care facilities are legally obligated to undergo regular inspections that are conducted on a schedule, but complaints also can draw a visit from inspectors. In the four-week period ending December 20, more than half of nursing homes in the state reported residents with confirmed cases of coronavirus, nearly 87% had at least one staff member diagnosed, and 49% of all virus deaths in the state were nursing home residents. I write with a focus on health and wellness. The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged nursing homes across the country. As an added step, reach out to the Office of the Ombudsman, where complaints are handled, in your area and ask for guidance. In Alaska, where it is least … The presence of covid-19 in more than half of the roughly 15,000 U.S. nursing homes, combined with the heartbreakingly inadequate response from federal and state governments, has … Enlist the help of someone who specializes in senior care if additional guidance is needed. Nursing homes and at least one state health department have contested the federal information. Nationally, the leading category for complaints is quality of care, which accounts for nearly 1 in 5 deficiencies. CMS uses bed counts, quality scores, staffing details and other information to determine its 5-star rating system. Every state has at least one nursing home with poor ratings, however. At least 106,000 coronavirus deaths have been reported among residents and employees of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities for older adults in the United States… State nursing home outbreaks as of August 6: - 1,420 cases (11.0% of all state cases, 917 among residents, 503 among staff) - 169 deaths (28.5% of all state deaths, 162 among residents, 7 … These types of things can really impact your loved one’s quality of life. You can access and download the full Nursing Home Compare datasets here, and if you follow that link, you’ll see that the deficiency data is split into three cycles, but for the purposes of our report, we wanted to get the most up-to-date information, so we’ve used the Cycle 1 report, which covers the past year of complaint-spurred inspections and the most recent regularly scheduled inspection for each nursing home. Just as you’ll find advice for avoiding nightmarish conditions, there are plenty of articles geared towards helping families identify the Top Qualities of a Good Nursing Home. If you’ve never dealt with one directly, however, it can be difficult to know what to look for in a quality facility. More than 106,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died from COVID-19, representing about 40 percent of all coronavirus fatalities in the U.S. Most notably it has the fifth-least expensive average cost of nursing home care in the country, at $64,240. California, seventh in the overall list, falls to No. I don’t know if it’s shame, confusion or a lack of information but we don’t talk about nursing homes nearly enough. Set your expectations high and act as an advocate on behalf of your loved one. Does the staff seem to respect the people they are caring for? While CMS may be called into question for gaps in reporting, the truth agencies nationwide investigate tens of thousands of complaints and other reports every year. From excellent to “much below average”, every facility is rated. Find out how often the residents are seen by a doctor and learn more about how they handle medical emergencies. 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