Alliance for Quality of Nursing Home Care Refutes New York Times Story

According to a recent New York Times article, "More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes", the investment private companies have made in long-term care facilities has been at the cost of the residents who live in them. However, a formal statement made by the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care made on Sunday September 23, the New York Times' analysis of the data they collected is somewhat misleading.

In their article, the New York Times claims they analyzed data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The New York Times claimed they discovered through their analysis of the data that private investors buy out large chains of nursing homes, immediately cut costs by laying off clinical nurses, and as a result make significant profit each year.

The Times claims that as a result of decreased care for residents, nursing home residents suffer. Specifically the New York Times asserts that federal and state regulators told the paper that the cut in staffing would account for the increased administration of wrong medication to residents, moldy food, and restraining residents for long duration of time in every large nursing owned by large private investors during a six year period between 2000 and 2006.

Finally, the Times asserts that private companies that buy large chains of nursing homes evade many lawsuits for negligent care by not making who controls the nursing homes public knowledge.

In a formal statement, the Alliance for Quality of Nursing Home Care, President Alan Rosenbloom responded to the New York Times article.

In his statement, he asserted that the data the New York Times analyzed was a mere small percentage of the United States long-term care ownership category. He further asserted that the data analyzed was not representative of the overall quality of long-term care facilities in the United States. He said that the quality of care in long-term care facilities in America is improving overall.