FL Senate Probes ‘Interference’ into Nursing Home Watchdog Program

A Florida Senate committee is investigating allegations that the state’s Department of Elder Affairs illegally interfered with a watchdog program that is supposed to protect the rights of residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

The Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs has scheduled a hearing Tuesdayto question the elder affairs staff following a highly critical report from the federal government a month ago that showed repeated violations.

The report, from the Administration on Aging, cited numerous problems with the department’s oversight of the state’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.

It criticized the Department of Elder Affairs for what it described as muzzling the ombudsman program’s communication with the media and restricting its ability to lobby the Legislature on behalf of nursing-home residents.

The report also faulted the department’s selection and firing of volunteers who make up the bulk of the watchdog program’s work force, saying that “it must be clear to the volunteers that they work for and are answerable only to the Long Term Care Ombudsman.”

Department Secretary Charles Corley has maintained that his office violated no laws and is committed to “ensuring the independence” and integrity of the ombudsman program.

But legislators from both political parties have expressed serious concerns. Democratic state Sen. Nan Rich, vice-chairman of the Children, Families and Elder Affairs committee, said both she and committee chairman Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon, were alarmed by what seems to be a lack of independence of the long-term care ombudsman program.

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Senate Probes ‘Interference’ Into Nursing Home Watchdog Program

Scandals Prompt FL Senate to Call for Revamping ALF Oversight

In response to a Miami Herald investigation into Florida assisted living facilities that uncovered sordid cases of elder abuse and neglect, the state Senate professional staff released a report calling for both increased and reorganized ALF regulatory oversight.

Currently, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is in charge of licensing and inspecting ALFs, and may impose administrative fines for certain types of violations. In certain circumstances, it has the authority to revoke or deny licenses depending on cited violations, or suspend services, if any condition related to the licensee presents a threat to the health, safety, or welfare of a client.

However, the Herald’s three-part series revealed that in many cases, the agency neglected to revoke licenses or shut down facilities even after multiple complaints and reports of abuse.

This led the Senate professional staff to recommend “the establishment of a workgroup that includes members of the various state agencies having ALF oversight responsibilities to determine those functions that are performed by more than one agency.”

Until the workgroup comes about, the Senate staff advises the Legislature to require each agency to establish a direct line of communication to the AHCA to immediately communicate a complaint received or observed deficiency concerning an ALF, and that the AHCA must immediately report each complaint.

Other recommendations include requiring quarterly reports from ALFs to the AHCA on occupancy rates and demographic and resident acuity information and increased surveys and inspections by the AHCA.

The report also details specific training and qualification recommendations for both ALF administrators and staff, and includes the possibility of requiring increased staff ratios for facilities with specialty licenses.

As far as penalties go, the report suggests limiting the AHCA’s discretionary powers in favor of requiring them to take certain measures based on certain actions.

Full Article and Source:
Scandals Prompt Florida Senate to Call for Revamped Assisted Living Oversight

See Also:
Read the Florida Senate Committee on Health Regulation Report

Nursing Facility Surveillance Growing

Driven by a mistrust of nursing homes, more families are taking advantage of advances in surveillance technology and using video cameras to help protect loved ones they suspect are being abused or mistreated by caregivers.

Even some facility managers and law enforcement officials are now using hidden cameras to catch workers who mistreat elderly or vulnerable residents. No figures are available, but specialists in the long-term care industry say the use of so-called “granny cams” is spreading, though the technology is also raising a host of legal and privacy issues.

Just this spring, an Ohio man placed a hidden camera in a desk fan to catch two nursing home workers abusing and hitting his 78-year-old mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. In New Jersey, workers were caught abusing an 87-year-old woman, prompting a wrongful-death lawsuit in June. In New York, authorities arrested 22 workers last year after hidden cameras revealed maltreatment of residents in two facilities.

Georgia Anetzberger, president-elect of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, said the spread of cameras in nursing homes is part of a broader proliferation of video surveillance in society to catch anything from traffic violations to shoplifting.

“Cameras are used to catch people more than ever before, not just because the technology is there but because it’s more widely accepted,” she said.

For years, however, the long-term care industry has fought legislative efforts across the United States to legalize the use of cameras, citing insurance costs and resident and employee privacy issues. Critics said cameras would make it more difficult to hire staff and that they also could misrepresent an incident.

The push to install video cameras in long-term care facilities started to gain momentum a decade ago. Legislation was introduced in more than 15 states, but only three — Texas, New Mexico and Maryland — adopted laws addressing the use of cameras in nursing homes, according to a 2007 article in the Baylor Law Review.

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Families Using Video Cameras in Nursing Homes to Protect Loved Ones

Assisted Living Center Closes Due to Abuse and Financial Exploitation

Elder abuse has many faces and can be subtle enough that it remains undetected for long periods of time. In Carson City, NV the state has closed down a Las Vegas assisted living center after accusations that it’s elderly residents were physically abused and had their money stolen from them.

The Las Vegas Sweet Home representative had no comment on the findings. The residents of the assisted living center were removed and placed in other facilities after the Bureau of Health Care Compliance suspended the license of the nursing home. The investigation against the Las Vegas Sweet Home uncovered that Social Security checks and other funds were allegedly being deposited into the personal accounts of caregivers. The investigation also found out that the caregivers were taking more money than necessary for grocery shopping and pocketing the difference. There was once incident where a female elderly resident had a shouting match with a manager and then he dragged by her ankles kicking and screaming down the hall. The woman was removed from the home immediately and the Metro Police investigated the alleged physical abuse. According to reports the assisted living center had been investigated and fined in multiple cases in the recent years. The state concluded that the residents were not safe as a result of chronic and repeated non-compliance with regulations and issued a suspension against the facility.

Unfortunately in this case, it took multiple complaints to be filed for this investigation to take place and for state officials to finally close it down.

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Assisted Living Center Closes Due to Abuse and Financial Exploitation

Long-Term Florida Care Cop is Necessary

Millions of elderly Floridians in long-term care facilities deserve a robust, independent watchdog to combat and prevent abuse and neglect.

At present, they have none.

The state’s Long-term Care Ombudsman Program sends volunteers to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to check on conditions and respond to complaints from residents and their families.

But a disturbing report la from the U.S. Administration on Aging charges that the program is hamstrung by political interference and by a lack of independence from the state Department of Elder Affairs — the agency it should be free to criticize.

At the center of this ongoing controversy is Gov. Rick Scott’s decision, soon after he took office in January, to fire ombudsman program leader Brian Lee, an outspoken advocate for the elderly who had antagonized the nursing home industry.

Lee’s dismissal shows the basic fault in the system. The ombudsman is supposed to have the authority to criticize the licensing rules for care facilities developed by the Department of Elder Affairs, and other activities.

But Elder Affairs also has the power to hire and fire the ombudsman.

The federal report says Elder Affairs administrators admit they do “not support the spirit” of the federal rules that are supposed to guarantee the independence of elder advocates and volunteers in the program.

That independence is critical to any ombudsman program seriously intended to deal with problems in long-term care.

Full Article and Source:
Long-Term Florida Care Cop Necessary

• Sen. Garrett Richter, District 37, 338-2777, richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov
• Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, District 27, 850-487-5356, benacquisto.lizbeth.web@flsenate.gov
• Sen. Mike Bennett, District 21, 225-3697, bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov
• Rep. Ken Roberson, House District 71, 941-613-0914, ken.roberson@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Paige Kreegel, House District 72, 941-575-5820, paige.kreegel@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Matt Caldwell, House District 73, 533-2411, e-mail matt.caldwell@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Gary Aubuchon, House District 74, 344-4900, gary.aubuchon@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Trudi Williams, District 75, 433-6775, trudi.williams@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, District 76, 417-6200, kathleen.passidomo@myfloridahouse.gov
• Rep. Matt Hudson, District 101, 417-6270, matt.hudson@myfloridahouse.gov
• Senate President Mike Haridopolos, 850-487-5056, haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov
• House Speaker Dean Cannon, 850-488-2742, dean.cannon@myfloridahouse.gov
• Gov. Rick Scott, 850-488-7146,
rick.scott@eog.myflorida.com

‘Assisted Living Facility Operators Have Hold on Florida Legislators, So Good Luck Keeping Granny Safe’

Anyone who’s been following the Miami Herald’s investigation of the wretched conditions in some of Florida’s assisted living facilities might wonder how the state could have cruelly turned its back on so many sick and helpless people.

The answer is as simple as it is sickening: Money.

Florida doesn’t spend enough of it enforcing the laws and regulations governing the facilities, while the industry spends a fortune buying off key state lawmakers with campaign donations.

One of them is Sen. Rene Garcia, a Republican from Hialeah who chairs the Health Regulation Committee. Remember this character’s name, in case he ever dreams of running for statewide office.

Garcia’s district includes more than 100 assisted living facilities, including some of the worst and most heavily fined in Miami-Dade. Thanks to Garcia and others, it’s not easy for one of these joints to get in trouble, no matter what horrors are taking place inside.

Statewide, more than 70 residents in assisted living are known to have perished from gangrene, starvation, narcotic overdoses and burns. At least 200 others have died under suspicious circumstances, but the records have been sealed.

In one case, caregivers at a facility in Manatee County managed to overlook an 85-year-old man while nearly half of his face was consumed by a cancerous tumor. In another facility, three people died, including a senior who fell down 24 separate times.

Despite all this, legislators beholden to assisted living facility lobbyists assiduously labored to gut the laws meant to keep these homes safe. Too many rules and regulations, they complained.

Heck, it’s only human suffering we’re talking about.

Even as the authorities found residents neglected, abused and even dying, lawmakers — who are rarely made to sleep in their own urine — were working aggressively on behalf of the facilities. Their mission was to shrink state oversight, minimize the number of inspections and make it harder to shut down rogue facilities.

This year in Tallahassee, 23 bills were introduced to weaken state supervision over these facilities. Most of them were written by the Florida Assisted Living Association, the industry lobby group. No one is more slavishly obedient to their wishes than Garcia, who collected $8,100 in campaign contributions from assisted living facility corporate interests.

Sen. Don Gaetz, a Destin Republican, said he couldn’t recall language in one of his own co-sponsored bills that stopped the state from bringing medical teams to assisted living facilities to decide whether sick residents should be removed from the homes for their own safety.

“I just don’t remember,” Gaetz said.

Full Article and Source:

Carl Hiaasen: Assisted Living Facility Operators Have Hold on Florida Legislators, So Good Luck Keeping Granny Safe

Florida Lawmaker Criticizes Assisted-Living Facility Owners

Calling Florida’s lax oversight of assisted living facilities “deadly,” one of the state’s top lawmakers for social issues vowed this summer to pass sweeping reforms of an industry that has sometimes left frail elders and disabled people in filth and peril.

But as a state task force prepares to meet for the first time Monday to develop a blueprint for reform, some advocates for the elderly have suggested the effort may be derailed before it ever begins by a familiar foe: the power of industry groups and their ties to lawmakers and regulators.

“Reaching out to the industry and regulators alone is what put our state in the assisted living mess it is in today,” Brian Lee, a former state long-term-care ombudsman and current head of a Tallahassee-based advocacy group, wrote in a recent letter to a top state lawmaker. “It is due time for this industry to become more transparent and wholly accountable.”

The twin efforts followed a three-part series in The Miami Herald that showed state regulators repeatedly caught homes breaking the law — including sometimes deadly abuse and neglect of frail elders — but failed to shut down or even seriously punish the worst offenders. The newspaper found that administrators with the state Agency for Health Care Administration could have shut down 70 homes in 2008 and 2009 for such violations as abuse and neglect leading to death, but closed just seven homes.

In the days after the series ran, two state lawmakers — Republican Ronda Storms of Valrico, who chairs the Senate’s Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee, and Democrat Nan Rich of Weston,

who serves on the committee — vowed to seek meaningful reforms of the industry as part of a summer-long interim project in their Senate committee. “It’s offensive to basic human dignity and care for vulnerable populations,” Storms told The Herald. “There’s no question.”

But before Storms could hold a single hearing, Senate President Mike Haridopolos assigned the project instead to Republican Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah, a healthcare consultant with deep ties to the industry. His Senate district contains one of the largest concentrations of ALFs in the state, including several with woeful regulatory histories.

Full Article and Source:

Task Force to Seek Reform of ALF Facilities

FL Lawmakers Pushed to Slash State Oversight of Assisted Living Facilities

When Sedrek Singleton, a career criminal with a violent past, checked into Nueva Vida assisted living facility, caretakers at the cluster of cottages in Miami-Dade never took steps to protect other residents.

They never had to.

Months after moving in, the 30-year-old man flew into a rampage, beating his roommate to death with a brick — nearly tearing off the disabled man’s ear — before bolting from his new home.

The brutal assault came just weeks after Florida lawmakers rejected a bill that would have put the burden squarely on ALF owners to safeguard people in their homes when accepting residents with criminal histories.

But the defeat in 2008 to bring more protections to vulnerable residents was just the beginning.

Over the next three years, lawmakers rejected sweeping plans to toughen Florida’s ALF law — often at the urging of industry leaders — while stripping away enforcement powers that left hundreds of residents to fend for themselves in dangerous conditions.

While frail residents were dying of abuse and neglect in ALFs across the state — nearly one a month — lawmakers pushed three dozen pieces of legislation since 2007 to cut crucial protections that had been in place for a generation.

Full Article and Source:

Lawmakers Pushed to Slash State Oversight of Assisted Living Facilities

See Also:

Search Currently Active Assisted Living Facilities in Florida

Elder Care Workers With a Checkered Past Get a Pass

After she was caught, Lisa M. Blair told police that her criminal behavior at a South St. Paul assisted-living facility “just got out of hand.”

For months, the Cerenity Residence worker stole thousands of dollars from elderly residents who relied on her for day-to-day help, including paying their bills. At least two residents were bilked for nearly $63,000 in a scheme that ended when an 88-year-old raised suspicions in December about Blair, police records show.

State health investigators found no fault with Cerenity Residence for the breakdown, which lasted for more than 18 months. Blair pleaded guilty this month to four felony counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. “I maybe took advantage,” she told police. “I knew it was the wrong thing to do.”

The case is part of a broad problem of elder abuse in Minnesota that raises questions about the state’s oversight of a rapidly growing industry.

In at least a handful of cases, state records show, breakdowns left vulnerable adults exposed to abuse. Either facilities missed warning signs or applicants with known criminal histories were approved to work because regulators granted exceptions to rules aimed at protecting vulnerable people.

Since 2005, state investigators have reviewed 171 cases of alleged financial abuse or exploitation in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and in-home care settings. In 77 percent of those cases, investigators substantiated those charges, almost all of which involved staff members stealing from residents, according to a Star Tribune review of state investigative files.

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Elder Care Workers With a Checkered Past Get a Pass

>Abuse in FL Assisted Living Facilities

>When Randy Trout began looking for an assisted living facility for his mother, Alva, he took care to find a place that was clean and pleasant, so his mother would be comfortable. He thought he’d found that, but then a series of events at the facility made him worry.

Eventually, his mother died, and Randy, a former police investigator, became convinced that neglect at the assisted living facility played a role. It is one of a number of cases uncovered in an investigative series by the Miami Herald and WLRN. Carol Marbin Miller is one of the reporters on that investigation. She says the case of Randy Trout’s mother is not uncommon. Her reporting shows that the state is doing little to regulate assisted living facilities in Florida.

Full Article and Source:
Abuse in Assisted Living Facilities

See Also:
Neglected to Death, Part Two