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Facilities Home and Community Based News Policy

Dignity Alliance Wants to be Cool!

Media Release Calls for Executive Action and Legislation to promote cooling for older adults and people with disabilities As another heat wave with temperatures in the nineties begins this week, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is calling on state government to protect older adults and people with disabilities from the dangers of extreme heat. In a letter […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2023-07-24 Spotlight: It’s Time to Bring Back Asylums

Editor’s note: This is a provocative essay. It includes a reference to the Worcester (MA) Recovery Center, a facility for 320 long-term patients with private rooms and “a recovery-inspired residential design” which opened in 2012. If you have observations or comments regarding the essay which you would like to share, please send them to Digest@DignityAllianceMA.org. […]

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Advocacy Facilities News

DignityMA Concerns with H. 3929 – Comprehensive Nursing Home Legislation

Dignity Alliance MA has released a statement on “What’s Needed for Transformational Nursing Home Reform to Improve Quality and Oversight” as well as a letter to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. You can download (the statement download contains significant footnotes not included below) these or read them below. What’s Needed […]

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Actions Advocacy Facilities Resolution Worker Support

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Join the DignityMA Resolution for Sufficient Nursing Home Staffing Thursday, June 15, 2023 marks the annual observance of WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY,which was launched more than a decade ago by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.  Dignity Alliance Massachusetts expresses concern that […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2023-06-12 Spotlight: Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners

Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners Bacon’s RebellionJune 10, 2023by James C. Sherlock Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners One of the most important and heart-wrenching decisions families make for their elderly loved ones is whether they are able to keep […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2023-05-29 Spotlight: A Woman of Valor: Arlene Germain

A Woman of Valor: Arlene Germain Disability Issues, Spring 2023 Vol.43 No. 2 By Sandy Alissa Novak I recently had the privilege of interviewing Arlene Germain, co-founder of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts. The following interview has been edited to fit in Disability Issues. Sandy Novack: Arlene, please tell us your first introduction to concerns about disability […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2023-05-22 Spotlight: Senate Report – Nursing Homes Severely Understaffed

Senate Special Committee on Aging Report: Nursing Home Survey Agencies are Severely Understaffed As reported by The Consumer Voice, May 19, 2023 Today, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, led by Chairman Bob Casey, released a new report, “Uninspected and Neglected: Nursing Home Agencies are Severely Understaffed, Putting Residents at Risk.”  The report details a […]

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Facilities News Spotlight

2023-05-08 CMS to Leverage Nursing Home Ownership Data

CMS eager to leverage new nursing home ownership data, leader confirms McKnight’s Long Term Care, April 26, 2023 By Kimberly Marselas A top Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services enforcement official said Tuesday that the agency is eager to use data collected under a proposed ownership transparency rule to “scrutinize how certain ownership types correlate […]

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Covid-19 Facilities Holyoke Soldiers' Home News Spotlight

2023-05-01 Spotlight: Comm. v. Clinton – MA Supreme Court re: Holyoke Soldiers’ Home

SJC reinstates criminal charges against managers of Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where 76 died early in pandemicBoston Globe, April 27, 2023By Ivy Scott and John R. Ellement Families of the veterans say the decision offers ‘a glimmer of hope’ as they prepare for the upcoming trial.The state’s highest court reinstated criminal charges on Thursday against Bennett […]

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Advocacy Facilities News Testimony

DignityMA Testimony and Campbell Letter re: Disclosures of Ownership and Transparency of Nursing Facilities Owners and Managerment

Scroll down for Attorney General Campbell media advisory and letter, also on this topic. DignityMA submits testimony in response to Disclosures of Ownership and Additional Disclosable Parties Information for Skilled Nursing Facilities and Nursing Facilities A Proposed Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): Disclosures of Ownership and Additional Disclosable Parties Information […]