A Fresno nursing home was fined more than $900,000 in 2018 for poor patient care, but consumers have been hard-pressed to find any public record of the massive penalty or many other big fines.
An issue that doesn’t get enough attention in this country is elder abuse.
According to the Centers For Disease Control, more than 500,000 older adults over the age of 60 are neglected each year. And those numbers are probably low because a majority of cases likely go unreported.
Nursing home neglect is a tragic but common problem in the United States. It occurs if a nursing home doesn’t provide proper care to its residents which results in physical or mental health problems.
Potential neglect and prolonged isolation may have caused serious harm to many people in nursing homes in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said today.
Interviews with more than 60 people, as well as reports from independent monitors, revealed concerns including extreme weight loss, dehydration, untreated bedsores, inadequate hygiene, mental and physical decline, and inappropriate use of psychotropic medications among nursing home residents. Staffing shortages, a longstanding issue that was a significant problem during the pandemic, and the absence of family visitors, many of whom nursing homes rely on to help staff with essential tasks, may have contributed to possible neglect and decline. Federal and state authorities should investigate the situation and ensure accountability for abuse.
When you’ve made the tough decision to place a loved one in a nursing home, you expect them to receive quality care. That’s what nursing homes are for, after all.
They are there to provide your loved one with a level of care that you are unable to. Fortunately, most nursing homes do this and provide excellent care to all of their residents. But, if you ever suspect nursing home abuse or neglect, you need to take action right away.
For Vivian Rivera-Zayas and her family, the troubles began in January 2020 after her 78-year-old mother Ana Martinez experienced complications from knee-replacement surgery and doctors sent her to Our Lady of Consolation, a nursing home in West Islip, New York, for a few weeks of therapy.
Ana was supposed to return to her Williamsburg apartment by the end of the month, but her discharge was postponed again and again. Then came New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s March 12 order locking down nursing homes in response to COVID-19.
* Word-Use Disclaimer
Legal funding is not a loan. It is the non-recourse purchase of an equitable lien in plaintiffs’ legal claims. Words such as ‘loans,’ ‘lending,’ ‘borrow,’ etc., are used for marketing purposes only.
More info
Helpful Links
TriMark Legal Funding LLC
1056 Green Acres Rd #102
Eugene, OR 97408
