What happens when the powers-that-be stop inspecting the conditions in nursing homes and care facilities for an entire year?
We’re about to find out, but the indications are anything but pleasant. The California Department of Public Health (DPH) suspended nursing home inspections in early 2020 and are just now resuming them. It appears that there is a lot of remedial work that needs to be done.
What problems are being uncovered?
For a full year, nursing homes have been operating essentially “under the cover of darkness,” with neither government inspectors around nor family members of the facility’s residents visiting to spot problems and call out neglect.
Like the government inspectors, family members and friends of nursing home residents were also barred from facilities for safety reasons. Unfortunately, that means that residents had nobody watching the staff in their facilities for neglect or abuse — except other staff members and administrators.
In many cases, inspectors found, the nursing homes didn’t even have enough staff on hand to properly care for patients. As one advocate for nursing home reform put it, “There were not enough staff to make sure people are clean and bathed. There’s not enough staff to make sure people aren’t developing bed sores.”
What should you do if you suspect nursing home neglect?
Your loved ones deserve to be treated with respect in their remaining years. They deserve proper care. If a nursing home facility caused your loved one to suffer due to neglect or abuse, calling them out using all legal means is the only way to get any measure of justice. This also can stop the same things from happening to someone else’s loved one.