Check quality ratings for nursing homes
We all wonder how the deaths in the Florida nursing home could have happened, and how can we make sure this won’t happen again (“8 Die at Florida Nursing Home,” Sept. 14). While Western Pennsylvanians do not have to worry about floods and poor evacuation plans, the quality of the nursing home is just as important.
Medicare rates hospitals, but the overall star rating does not tell the whole story. Anyone checking out a nursing home should check the quality rating, which looks at such areas as bedsores, urinary tract infections, use of antipsychotics, etc. It is possible for a facility to have a good overall Medicare rating and still fall short in the quality area. Medicare and state regulating agencies share responsibility for enforcing nursing home regulations. Medicare can revoke Medicare accreditation, and states can impose fines, but a home usually has to have had a history of repeated violations before this happens.
At one point, Pennsylvania was ranked as one of three states least likely to impose sanctions. This has improved, apparently because the attorney general filed suit against a chain that had 36 Pennsylvania locations, including Mt. Lebanon and Monroeville.
Ours is a convoluted system that needs repair, but it demands that anyone checking out a home look at everything, and in person. Common sense also tells us that if for-profit nursing homes were held accountable for substandard care, their adherence to regulations would improve. CAROLYN LINDBERG,
PH.D. Mt. Lebanon
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