The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light serious care issues and even reports of mistreatment suffered by elderly New Yorkers living in nursing homes around the state. In addition to reporting the death of 15,000 older adults, The need to involve more trained personnel to care for the residents of these places and the urgency of putting a magnifying glass on the so-called “nursing homes” with greater supervision to guarantee the full well-being of the residents was put on the table. more than 160,000 people who receive care in some 1,400 homes and senior centers spread between the Big Apple and other counties in the state.
And although the call for more resources and personnel to be allocated to do review work to elderly care centers in New York, continues to grow among families and organizations, the outlook looks unflattering and it is feared that vulnerable elderly suffer serious consequences.
This was reported in a report presented a few days ago by the organization ARRP (American Association of Retired Persons), which made an urgent call to state authorities so that, within the budget currently being discussed in Albany, resources are allocated and plans for supervision of nursing homes are promoted. ARRP, which last year reported that almost 80% of nursing homes and other New York City care facilities did not receive any visits from the federally required state oversight program for a three-month period in 2022, said Governor Hochul’s state budget does not address inspection of “nursing homes”.
ARRP mentioned that in the state’s most populous counties, such as Nassau, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester, weekly supervision visits did not increase, while in the Big Apple, about 300 nursing homesnot only were no inspection improvements seen but more than 98% did not receive a weekly visit. Only 3% of the total facilities around the state increased their weekly visits.
The organization that cares for the elderly population noted that the state leader cut support for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), which has been neglected for years and was designed to protect vulnerable residents. The goal was to visit each facility at least once a week.
“It is a sad and surprising fact“New York State continues to underfund a program that serves as an on-the-ground advocate for some of our most fragile New Yorkers,” he said. Beth Finkel, AARP New York state director.
The ARRP report highlighted that the LTCOP program, federally required and administered by the State Office on the Aging (SOFA), “it is the voice of the frail elderly” in nearly 1,400 adult care facilities, while helping residents, caregivers and family members understand and exercise residents’ rights and intervene to help protect them, addressing specific quality of care issues.
“While there are improvements in some regions of the state in the number of facilities receiving weekly visits, the overall picture is nothing to brag about.. “The LTCOP program needs adequate funding (not cuts) to carry out its work as intended, thereby ensuring that each facility is visited by an advocate at least once a week,” Finkel insisted. “This layer of personal, hands-on supervision is vital for family caregivers who cannot be at the side of their loved ones, as well as ensuring the well-being and safety of residents living in nursing homes and other adult care facilities.” ”.
Data collected by the organization, based on SOFA records from the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2023, showed that only 12% of senior care facilities received a weekly in-person visit from an advocate. attention. The performance increased, compared to the previous 9%, but still shows that there is an overwhelming lack of supervision of these places, since 88% of all homes and nursing care centers throughout the state did not receive an inspection visit at least once a week.
Anabel Rodriguezwho has her 79-year-old mother living in a home for the elderly since 2022, because she does not have the time or the necessary care team to be able to provide her with the well-being that the Colombian immigrant requires, was concerned to learn that the The vast majority of sites do not comply with oversight laws.
“I really can’t complain about the way they treat my mother, but sometimes I do see that there are few staff to take care of so many grandparents and although I don’t know if that particular place is inspected as it should, I think that the We would be calmer if our family members supervised the nursing homes more at all levels,” said the mother. “Leaving the old people there is an act of trust, but if they need to supervise morebecause there are always things that can be fixed, improved or even prevent suffering for residents.”
They ask for greater supervision of senior care sites. Photo: Edwin Martinez.Credit: Edwin Martínez | Impremedia
In its report, ARRP stressed that the majority of LTCOP advocates are volunteers who do their jobs to the best of their ability, but added that they lack sufficient professional staff, which limits the ability to meet the demand for services and care of the patients. residents of long-term care facilities.
“The LTCOP program has had its funding increased by $5 million in the last two state budgets, with 24 full-time employees added to its staff. However, that is not enough, as demonstrated by the latest LTCOP report from AARP New York,” said the organization that ensures the well-being of older adults and that also highlighted serious failures that must be addressed.
“The report also contains nearly 1,100 complaints related to quality adult care reported in a single quarter. Complaints about poor quality of care include accidents and falls, addressing requests for assistance, medications, personal hygiene, access to health-related services, continence care, and infection control,” ARRP said. “In addition, in the same reporting period, 37 allegations concerned serious neglect and exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse.”
And contrary to the Governor’s intentions in the budget, where not only did she not include additional funds for the nursing home supervision program but also proposes cutting $2.5 million from the initiative, which they describe as taking steps backwards, AARP demanded that the state president and the Legislature to add $15 million to the final budget to increase the effectiveness of the program.
“We need the Governor to be a leader on this issue. Working with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader, Andrew Stewart-Cousins, the Governor can come to the budget table to provide the necessary funding and program improvements that will allow the State’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program to succeed. Our parents, grandparents, siblings and other loved ones living in adult care facilities depend on it,” Finkel said.
Data on nursing home supervision in NY
- $5 million was invested last year for home monitoring plans for the LTCOP program
- The governor proposes removing $2.5 million from the LTCOP program this year
- $15 million is required to be able to meet weekly visits to all facilities
- 98% of nursing homes did not receive a weekly supervision visit.
- 3% of total facilities around the state increased their weekly visits only
ARRP Recommendations on Nursing Homes
- Call on Governor Hochul to lead and develop a plan to improve oversight and coordination of advocates with the New York State Department of Health and the State Attorney General to better support the needs and safety of family caregivers and their loved ones. loved ones and ensure that their rights are not violated
- Provide an additional $15 million in funding to professionalize the program so that it meets its stated goal of one visit per facility per week to ensure a regular presence at each facility.
- Require DOH to consult with LTCOP on the number and type of complaints received when licensing, certifying, or granting a certificate of need for an adult residential care facility
- Require the LTCOP program to report any claims of sexual or physical abuse or gross neglect to the State Attorney General’s Office for review with a record and type of abuse in the Ombudsman’s annual report on any final resolution
2024-02-26 13:15:01
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