On February 2, several DignityMA members met with Secretary Kate Walsh of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Dr. Robert Goldstein, Commissioner of the Department of Public Health. DignityMA presented their thoughts and recommendations regarding various issues affecting the delivery of long-term services and care in the Commonwealth especially those involving nursing […]
Category: Facilities
Penny Shaw is a Dignity Alliance Massachusetts participant. She has lived in a nursing home in Massachusetts for about two decades and is a renowned advocate for residents in long-term care. Penny was a policy advisor to CMS and was part of the White House’s Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. What […]
National Bureau of Economic ResearchBy Atul Gupta, Sabrina T. Howell, Constantine Yannelis & Abhinav GuptaFebruary 2021, revised August 2023 Owner Incentives and Performance in Healthcare: Private Equity Investment in Nursing Homes Summary:Amid an aging population and a growing role for private equity (PE) in elder care, this paper studies how PE ownership affects U.S. nursing […]
DLC Report Finds Harmful Lack of Proper Care for Patients at Bear Mountain Nursing Facility in Worcester Disability Law Center, January 31, 2024 Understaffing, overmedicating, and isolating practices plague facility’s long-term patients; Weak state standards; lackluster enforcement contribute to woeful conditions The Disability Law Center, Inc. (DLC), the Commonwealth’s Protection and Advocacy system, today released […]
*Boston Globe, January 29, 2024By The Editorial Board The city bought the 190-acre property in part using money from the state and promised to preserve the site. But it has let the buildings fall into disrepair. The shameful state of records left behind at the shuttered Walter E. Fernald School is a big scandal and […]
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Private Equity
The toxic effects that Private Equity investments have had on healthcare, caregiving, durable medical equipment and nursing homes is a hot topic at DignityMA. We have compiled several opinions and resources on this issue. Updates will be added. March 1, 2024: DignityMA (Senator Richard Moore and the Legislative Workgroup) has prepared detailed testimony in Code […]
*Boston Globe, January 17, 2024By The Editorial Board Higher prices, worse outcomes don’t serve patients or providers. When Pamela Daly got new wheelchair brakes, they rattled and didn’t work. She complained to the manufacturer but after a month was still waiting for replacements. Daly, a disability rights advocate, was late to an event at the […]
This study, United States’ Nursing Home Finances: Spending, Profitability, and Capital Structure, was issued by the Long Term Care Community Coalition. The entire text, including footnotes, can be accessed at the above link. By Charlene Harrington, Richard Mollot, and Dunc Williams, Jr.Sage Journals, December 19, 2023 AbstractLittle is known about nursing home (NH) financial status […]
The Washington Post (free access), December 17, 2023By Douglas MacMillan and Christopher Rowland Surveillance video captured a 97-year-old woman’s death outside the locked doors of a high-end Colorado home, a symptom of deeper problems in the $34 billion industry. . . Conceived about 40 years ago to give seniors more freedom in their final years of […]
By Penny ShawNovember 21, 2023 I have Guillain-Barre syndrome – a neuromuscular disorder – in my case with quadriparesis: paralysis of the legs and weakness of my upper extremities. I have no control over my legs. I cannot stand or walk. I cannot bend or straighten them. When I am in bed I […]