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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ind. Gov't. - "Nursing homes dodge scrutiny: Attorney general has filed 6 complaints out of 300 cases in past 5 years"

Another long investigative story posted today (from the Sunday paper) by the Indianapolis Star team of Heather Gillers and Tim Evans. The story begins:

When state health inspectors and police investigated a rape reported at a Marion nursing home in June 2008, what they discovered suggested such an assault could have been prevented.

The accused resident was a sex offender on parole -- something the nursing home's administrator had known since the man was admitted to the facility three months earlier. But the administrator did not ensure that information was shared with nurses and aides. Nor did the home make any plan to protect residents from the man.

So, what happened when state health inspectors made the attorney general aware of the Marion administrator's inaction?

Nothing.

The attorney general's office decided not to file an official complaint that would trigger a review by the Indiana State Board of Health Facility Administrators.

Without that complaint, the board -- the body that licenses and disciplines nursing home administrators -- never even had the opportunity to review the case.

In Indiana, that has become the norm. Over the past five years, the Health Department has passed along about 300 inspection reports to the attorney general in accordance with a federal law that says health inspectors must report major problems to licensing officials. At some homes, inspectors found such problems year after year.

But from those 300 reports, an Indianapolis Star investigation found, the attorney general brought the board a grand total of six complaints.

An accompanying Star editorial is headlined "Our Opinion: Asleep at the oversight wheel." Here is a sample:
The office of the current Indiana attorney general, which alone decides whether a nursing home accusation by state health inspectors merits review by the State Board of Health Facility Administrators, has filed zero complaints with the board from the 40 reports sent to Attorney General Greg Zoeller.

Federal law requires health inspectors to report major problems to the state.

Under Zoeller's predecessor, Steve Carter, 463 reports generated all of 38 complaints.

Karen Freeman-Wilson, the attorney general before Carter, did much better, filing 92 complaints from 300 reports. She also got sued by the nursing home trade association and lost the 2000 election to Carter, whose campaign the association generously funded. And Carter commenced to settle the suit.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 24, 2010 07:09 AM
Posted to Indiana Government