This page has quotes from the 2024 Dignity Digest issues, beginning in January, ordered by newest first.
For previous quotes, visit:
October 4, 2024
September 17, 2024
The Connecticut Department of Health and Department of Social Services said in a joint statement, “Every nursing home resident deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.” That dignity is called into question by a documented incident where a nurse allegedly told an incontinent patient, “I can smell you in the hallway.”
The nurse removed the resident’s soiled Johnny coat and tossed it so that it “landed on the resident’s face.”
Relocation of Abbott Terrace nursing home residents in Waterbury underway after feds pull funding to force shutdown, Fox61, September 13, 2024
“Just one simple word. Accountability.”
Chaka Fagon, resident of Abbott Terrace, Relocation of Abbott Terrace nursing home residents in Waterbury underway after feds pull funding to force shutdown, Fox61, September 13, 2024
The nation’s population of senior citizens is growing faster than any other age group, they are disproportionately represented in this year’s key swing states, and they vote in higher proportions than anyone else. . . The power of the senior vote is a result of the graying of America, a trend whose implications stretch far beyond one election. The population aged 65 and over grew nearly five times faster than the total population in the 100 years from 1920 to 2020, according to the Census Bureau. This cohort reached 55.8 million in 2020, meaning it made up 16.8% of the nation’s total population. By 2050, it is expected to reach 23%.
Older Voters Are Crucial for 2024—and They’re Up for Grabs, *Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2024
“We knew at that time that the facility would eventually require replacement, so we worked to build an appropriate transition plan that would ensure the continuation of care for residents and also look out for our care team.”
Britt Crewse, president of MaineHealth’s Southern Region, Portland nursing home to shutter its doors, move residents to new facility *MaineBiz, September 13, 2024
“I always open with my age: I’m putting it out there right away in case I don’t make it through the show. That gets them laughing no matter who’s in the audience.”
D’yan Forest, a 90 year old comedian, How a 90-Year-Old Comedian Spends Her Sundays, *New York Times, September 14, 2024
“There’s a shortage of help in all areas and there’s a lot of turnover, from administration on down. We didn’t have a cook for a while and we were served sandwiches a lot.”
A resident of a large senior community in central Maine, Maine’s long-term care facilities struggle amid labor shortage, *Portland Press Herald, September 15, 2024
“If you take government money and you’re taking it to care for people, and you don’t provide the basic care in terms of answering the call bells or changing their bed sheets … isn’t that fraud?”
Michael Burgess, the former director of New York’s Office of the Aging, ‘Living in fear’: Nursing home residents reckon with widespread neglect, Times Union (free access), September 15, 2024
“We seem to be putting the most burden on the people least equipped to deal with it.”
Steve Adams, president of the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, commenting on the impact of the closure the Nashoba Valley Community Hospital, Closed Steward hospitals leave ambulance services scrambling to cover gaps, *Boston Globe, September 13, 2024
“The Center for Living & Working [offers congratulations] on [the] new name MassAbility. We look forward to continuing our partnership in ensuring those living with disabilities in Massachusetts are provided the same opportunities, supports, and services that have been offered for years. [The] name reflects what our work is all about affording everyone the ability to achieve their goals.”
Meg Coffin, CEO, Center for Living and Work, Office of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, September 13, 2024
September 10, 2024
At the March visit, a resident [of Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation in South Hadley] told a surveyor they were soiled and hadn’t be cleaned up since the previous day and their call light to summon help was broken. A resident with quadriplegia had been transferred to the hospital several times for care, and the nursing home failed to notify their guardian.
From June 2021 through June 2024, the facility has been fined $338,238 by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, making it the third most fined nursing home in Western Massachusetts after Highview of Northampton and Vantage at Wilbraham.
Tab for state rescue of 3 Mass. nursing homes nears $2M , *MassLive, August 28, 2024
[Paul] Lanzikos says [Dignity Alliance Massachusetts] is not opposed to the infusion of operating or capital funds into [nursing] facilities. “What we want to do is have accountability. That’s where I think the failure is. Unless there are clear criteria and enforcement of those criteria then you’re just throwing the money away.”
Paul Lanzikos, Coordinator, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, 3 Blupoint nursing homes in Massachusetts taken over by outside company after I-Team reports, WBZ News (video report), August 30, 2024
“Affordable and accessible housing is essential to realizing the goals of Olmstead. The flexibilities we are providing today will further enable local leaders to support the housing needs of people with disabilities”.
HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman, HUD Takes Action to Support Community Living for People with Disabilities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), August 27, 2024
I try to be as respectful as possible. I try to make beautiful photos of a disabled body. My aim is to capture the part of the body that is not there anymore, an absence that needs to be accepted.
Emilio Morenatti, Associated Press photographer at the Paris Paralympics, AP photographer finds beauty at the Paralympics in capturing what’s not there. AP News, September 7, 2024
A recent review of state licensure definitions conducted by CEAL@UNC found that few states currently define assisted living as providing person-centered care. From its inception, the philosophy of assisted living has been one of personalized services. Expressly noting the intent of person-centered services — such as to promote quality of life — provides a measurable metric to determine whether assisted living is meeting its mission, which may be determined by residents or by those who know them best.
Toward a common definition of assisted living (McKnights Senior Living, September 3, 2024)
“[The renal care] field has really been debating about the role of dialysis in patients who develop kidney disease in old age. It’s lifelong therapy and a major change to your lifestyle. It can lengthen life, but there are trade-offs.”
Dr. Manjula Tamura, a nephrologist and researcher at Stanford University, Dialysis May Prolong Life for Older Patients. But Not by Much., * New York Times, September 1, 2024
[M]uch of our health care system remains obstinately siloed, with mental health relegated to the sidelines of preventive medicine. . . We need a care system and a medical culture that support the health of the whole person.
Dr. Helen Ouyang, an emergency physician and an associate professor at Columbia University, We Know Mental Health Affects Physical Health. Why Don’t We Act Like It?, *New York Times, September 1, 2024
What are you most afraid of with AI in healthcare?
I don’t think that the enthusiasm around developing tools has been met with the same level of enthusiasm around testing, validating and demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of these tools. . .
I worry about a two-tiered system of AI. The AI “haves” are going to be large, well-resourced systems . . . and the AI “have-nots” will be health systems . . . that either don’t have the infrastructure or know-how to deploy the AI technologies.
Dr. Daniel Yang, a top executive overseeing artificial intelligence at Kaiser Permanente, What AI Can Do in Healthcare—and What It Should Never Do(*Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2024)
What should AI never do? Is there a red line?
We view them as augmenting, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable about AI automating clinical decision-making, in diagnosis or treatment.
Dr. Daniel Yang, a top executive overseeing artificial intelligence at Kaiser Permanente, What AI Can Do in Healthcare—and What It Should Never Do(*Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2024)
“They’re just telling us it takes time and money. Well, you’ve wasted a lot of both.”
Jean McClure, chapter president of SEIU 509, a union representing many Department of Mental Health workers at Tewskbury hospital, Water at a Mass. state hospital has been undrinkable for years, *Boston Globe, September 1, 2024
“Old age” must be redefined and retirement ages raised so that living longer doesn’t mean retiring longer on workers’ taxes, particularly for wealthy retirees. After all, longer lives for most people should mean more productive years.”
C. Eugene Steuerle, co-founder the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and Glenn Kramon, lecturer at Stanford Business School, Young Americans Can’t Keep Funding Boomers and Beyond, New York Times (free access), September 1, 2024
“Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities deserve better than subpar conditions. It’s time to hold nursing homes and other long-term care facilities accountable for providing safe environments and high-quality care for residents.”
AARP Massachusetts State Director Jennifer Benson and State President Sandra Harris, Assisted living oversight, certification strengthened by bill, McKnights Senior Living, September 6, 2024
“Worrying about necessities like food or transportation can distract caregivers, no matter how dedicated they are. A healthier, better-supported workforce is essential for delivering higher-quality and more consistent care.”
Brandi Kurtyka, CEO, MissionCare Collective, Home-Based Care Workers Face A Wellbeing Crisis, According To New Report, Home Health Care News, September 6, 2024
“The [long term care] bill [H 5033] is really going to save lives and improve the lives of so many. It’s really the most significant piece of legislation in the long-term care and assisted living space in over a quarter of a century.”
Representative Thomas Stanley, Co-Chair, Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, In a win for seniors and people with disabilities, Massachusetts curtails estate recovery practices, *Boston Globe, September 7, 2024 (updated)
“This win is for Joe Tringali [former 45-year staff member of Stavros Center for Independent Living], his family, and everyone who fought for decades to end now-past estate recovery practices.”
Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton), In a win for seniors and people with disabilities, Massachusetts curtails estate recovery practices, *Boston Globe, September 7, 2024 (updated)
“I work full time to like to set aside money to pay for legs. I don’t have a car payment. I have a leg payment.”
Lindi Marcusen, a Paralympic athlete who is competing in the 100 and long jump and is an above-the-knee amputee, In the Paralympic Fix-It Shop, Plenty of Fractures but No Blood, *New York Times, September 6, 2024 (updated)
“Working with private equity vultures, [Dr. Ralph De la Torre, Steward President and CEO] became obscenely wealthy by loading up hospitals across the country with billions in debt and selling the land underneath these hospitals to real estate executives who charge unsustainably high rent.”
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Steward Health’s sale puts scrutiny on real estate deals, Axios, September 6, 2024
September 3, 2024
“[The long-term care reform bill (H 5033)] will save lives and improve lives of residents and workers in long-term care facilities, provide more options for assisted living, and improve financing options for older people living with disabilities.”
Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, Statement of Senator Patricia Jehlen, State House News, August 29, 2024
Americans 55 and over control nearly 70 percent of U.S. household wealth, compared with about 50 percent in 1989.
Trekking 85 Miles With Grandpa, Scuba Diving With Grandma, New York Times (free access), August 19, 2024)
“When we see patients admitted to the hospital with COVID these days, they’re almost always patients who have other underlying diseases. Some degree of immunocompromised, some degree of heart or lung disease, that makes them more vulnerable.”
Mary Frances Barthel, Chief Quality Safety Officer for Blessing Health System in Quincy, IL, COVID cases rise at Illinois Veterans’ Home; health officials urge public to revisit latest protocols, WGEM, August 28, 2024
[M]uch of our health care system remains obstinately siloed, with mental health relegated to the sidelines of preventive medicine. . . We need a care system and a medical culture that support the health of the whole person.
Dr. Helen Ouyang, an emergency physician and an associate professor at Columbia University, We Know Mental Health Affects Physical Health. Why Don’t We Act Like It?, *New York Times, September 1, 2024
August 27, 2024
“I just want to reiterate that we do share everyone’s commitment to assessments being done by local, community-based organizations who know their members, they know their families, they know their communities, and they know the options in their communities.”
Mike Levine, Assistant Secretary Executive Office of Health and Human Services and MassHealth Director, MassHealth Drops Bid To Consolidate Assessments, *State House News, August 26, 2024
“It reminds me of being on the Mass Pike. You’ve got all the lanes open, but all of a sudden everybody has to go through one lane and if your information is wrong, you’ve got to get out of the line.”
Nancy Garr-Colzie, Board President, Center for Living and Work and who uses a wheelchair, commenting about MassHealth’s proposal of an “Independent Assessment Entity”, MassHealth Drops Bid To Consolidate Assessments, *State House News, August 26, 2024
“As rents rise, homelessness increases, public housing deteriorates, and millions of families struggle to keep roofs over their heads, robust federal investments and actions are badly needed and long overdue.”
Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, NLIHC Statement on President Biden’s Housing Supply Action Plan, National Low Income Housing Coalition, May 16, 2022
Elder care advocates say the accusations of poor care and neglect at MuirWoods are not uncommon at assisted living facilities. They also say these problems are most pronounced at facilities owned and operated by large financial interests such as real estate and private equity firms. Unlike skilled nursing homes, assisted living centers are not considered medical facilities and are not regulated as such. Advocates say that as a result, some owners treat them as cash cows with little meaningful government oversight.
Why was a Petaluma memory care facility hit with a $20 million judgment? Here are 5 key findings(The Press Democrat, August 17, 2024)
“The savvy consumer wants to know what it’s going to cost them and what longevity looks like.”
Jennifer Saxman, a CEO of an assisted living development company, Senior living communities struggle to sell value amid increasing rates(McKnights Senior Living, August 19, 2024)
Exacerbated challenges faced by memory care assisted living communities during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the increased use of antipsychotics and antidepressants, raising concerns about the ability of those settings to care for residents with dementia.
Pandemic challenges raise concerns about assisted living’s ability to care for cognitively impaired residents, McKnights Senior Living, August 17, 2024
Five of the top six worries of [surveyed older adults] were related to costs of healthcare and health insurance, followed by financial scams and fraud.
Assisted living affordability, access remain top concerns of older adults, McKnights Senior Living, August 15, 2024
Disability data justice is predicated on accurate, inclusive, and equitable measures of disability. To achieve this form of justice, the processes through which we determine disability measures must also be equitable and inclusive.
A Research Roadmap Toward Improved Measures Of Disability, Health Affairs Forefront, July 9, 2024
As many 100,000 Americans with severe brain injuries are unresponsive, showing few or no signs that they are aware of themselves or their surroundings.
But one in four people with this kind of injury can perform cognitive tasks on command, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Some Patients Who Appear Unconscious Know What’s Going On, *Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2024
“That’s my dad!”
17-year-old Gus Walz, son of Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, who has a non-verbal learning disorder, exclamation at the National Democratic Convention, Sudden fame for Tim Walz’s son focuses attention on challenges of people with learning disabilities, AP News, August 22, 2024
For the poorest Americans, finding an apartment to rent or a home to buy often means tapping into a vast network of nonprofit groups that use public and charitable funds to rehab or build affordable housing. Over the past year, the skyrocketing cost of property insurance has put that network on shaky ground.
Soaring Insurance Costs Could ‘End’ Affordable Housing, Developers Warn(New York Times (free access), August 25, 2024)
Perhaps the most concerning finding in the report is the emergence of “nursing home deserts” — areas with no skilled nursing facilities to serve aging populations. These underserved regions are becoming common in rural America, where 1 in 5 older Americans live.
The situation is dire: Nearly half of all nursing homes are limiting new admissions, over half have waiting lists, and 1 in 5 have had to close units due to labor shortages.
The sector is clearly at a crossroads. Policymakers, providers and communities must work together to ensure every senior has access to needed skilled care services. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire.
Long-term care is in trouble, McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 25, 2024
Since 2020, at least 774 nursing homes have closed, displacing 28,421 residents. There are also 62,567 fewer nursing home beds than there were in 2020.
AHCA’s Access to Care report provides grim assessment of nursing home trends(McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 22, 2024)
The more high-risk factors you have — like advanced age, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, having a compromised immune system, pregnancy, asthma, and having never been vaccinated or had Covid — the more important it is to get two doses.
What you need to know about the new Covid-19 vaccine(Vox, August 23, 2024)
Last week, a mask ban in Nassau County, New York was signed into law. If I lived just 60 miles east of my New Jersey town, I would be under threat of a fine or jail time every time I left the house.
Kaitlin Costello, associate professor of library and information science at the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey who conducts research and teaches classes on health information, computing and society, and human information behavior, Mask bans disenfranchise millions of Americans with disabilities, STAT, August 20, 2024
Although federal law requires insurers to provide the same access to mental and physical health care, these companies have been caught, time and again, shortchanging customers with mental illness — restricting coverage and delaying or denying treatment.
Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here’s why(NPR Shots (Weekend Edition Sunday), August 25, 2024)
About 1 in 4 for-profit nursing homes across the country are likely not complying with federal regulations surrounding infection control staff, increasing health and safety risks for residents and workers, according to an estimate by the HHS’ Office of Inspector General. . . Staffing has become a significant challenge for nursing homes. Before the pandemic in 2018, 23% of nursing homes used temporary agency staff, accounting for about 3% of all direct care nursing hours. But in 2022, nearly half of nursing homes used agency workers, making up 11% of all direct care nursing hours.
OIG estimates 1 in 4 for-profit nursing homes not complying with infection control staffing rules(Healthcare Dive, August 26, 2024)
Greece doesn’t have the laws or accessible infrastructure other places have, but its people were so welcoming. Maybe — hopefully — its laws and infrastructure will catch up to its citizens someday.
I navigated my trip in Greece in a wheelchair, with help from a friend(*Boston Globe, August 23, 2024)
“I am honored and humbled to lead The Arc of Massachusetts. Having children with disabilities, I understand the challenges families face firsthand. As CEO, I will work to build stronger partnerships to overcome the workforce crisis, eliminate archaic policies, and make advocacy a natural part of all our lives.”
Maura Sullivan, new Chief Executive Officer, The Arc of Massachusetts, The Arc of Massachusetts Announces Appointment of Maura Sullivan as New Chief Executive Officer, The Arc of Massachusetts, Summer 2024
August 20, 2024
“It’s about time.”
Kristin Hatch, a former Seashore Point employee, Private Equity Doesn’t Care, The Provincetown Independent, July 31, 2024
“While you may rail against ‘socialized medicine,’ until the U.S. moves away from a profit-motivated health-care model to a system that sees health care as a right, these issues will persist. Baby boomers will not be happy as they enter the golden years.”
Donna Cooper, M.D., A Profit-Driven Health-Care System Is the Problem, The Provincetown Independent, August 14, 2024
Eight ways to improve emergency room performance:
- First, insurers, government leaders, and hospital administrators must immediately develop alternatives.
- Second, all aspects of hospital staffing and management decisions must consider their impact on the ED.
- Third, space must be configured to separate the immunocompromised from the contagious.
- Fourth, offer comfort measures.
- Fifth, more staff is needed to monitor safety and cleanliness
- Sixth, doctors should have the discretion to directly admit certain patients.
- Seventh, executive compensation should be tied to improvements in ED care.
- Finally, the all-important U.S. News & World Report’s ranking system does a gross disservice to patients by excluding emergency departments from its analysis.
Lauren Stiller Rikleen, The hellscape of the emergency department, *Boston Globe, August 19, 2024
Not everybody’s teeth get brushed every day. People’s nails aren’t cut like they used to. Beds aren’t being made. Staff has to take shortcuts to get things done because there’s less of them to provide all those — all the care that the residents need.
The system is so broken and so short-handed and so difficult to manage with the different combinations of patients that you’re not able to provide the care for the people that really need it at the moments they really need it.
Bonnie Gaudraeau, Licensed Practical Nurse, U.S. nursing homes grapple with staffing shortages and requirements, PBS News Weekend, August 17, 2024
Closures are happening across the U.S., but a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found that the rate of nursing home closures in New England is three times the national rate
Amidst nursing home closures, relocating residents close to home is a challenge, Maine Public Radio, August 13, 2024
“When caregivers feel informed and supported, when they receive education and training on the medical and nursing tasks they need to perform, they are better able to carry out their caregiving responsibilities with minimal detriment to themselves and ensure the best medical outcomes for patients. This is true across all caregiving settings.”
Dr. Allison Applebaum, Associate Attending Psychologist and Director of the Caregivers, Clinic at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Transplant Caregiving in the U.S.: A Call for System Change(National Alliance for Caregiving (report), 2023)
With increasing financial pressures, unpaid wages have become a significant issue throughout the long-term care industry this year.
Nursing home owes $420K in unpaid wages: attorney general, McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 13, 2024
Sometimes, you can most appreciate what something is when you are being denied it. . . So, too, it is with dignity. You inherently have it, but others can be quick to chip it away, as if they want to make you feel invisible, unworthy, always “less than.”
Sandy Alissa Novack, MBA, MSW, What Is the Meaning of Dignity?
“It’s looking like [COVID] is probably not a seasonal virus, so it will likely be year round.”
Dr. Otto Yang, associate chief of infectious diseases at UCLA and professor of medicine, COVID is on the rise this summer. Here’s why and what else you should know, NPR Morning Edition, August 15, 2024
The United States has 4% of the world’s population but more than 16% of COVID-19 deaths.
The COVID Tracking Project Part 1, Reveal (podcast), August 3, 2024
At the height of the pandemic, COVID-19 was talked about as “the great equalizer,” an idea touted by celebrities and politicians from Madonna to then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But that was a myth.
The COVID Tracking Project Part 3(Reveal (podcast), August 17, 2024)
“Denying students with disabilities access to their neighborhood schools based on a blanket policy denies such students the opportunity to experience school with their siblings, friends, and neighbors and is discriminatory.”
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Justice Department Secures Agreement with Nebraska School District to End Discriminatory Treatment of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students(U.S. Department of Justice, August 15, 2024)
“Our concern with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services star ranking system is that surveys aren’t being completed on time, or the surveyor pool is limited and that because of the lack of timely surveys, data is lagging significantly. We support surveys and rankings, but we can’t do it with old records. If survey data and star rankings prohibit growth and expansion, the industry and patients will be the ones who are negatively impacted the most.”
PACS President and Chief Operating Officer Josh Jergensen, New report urges CMS to deny new certifications based on quality of owners’ related nursing homes, McKnights Long-Term Care, August 18, 2024
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has the authority and responsibility under the Nursing Home Reform Law to deny federal certification to facilities that have a history of poor care. Although CMS could use its existing statutory authority more effectively to prevent some of the poorest operators in the country from acquiring additional nursing facilities, explicit federal criteria for certification could clarify the relevant factors that CMs must consider in certification decisions. Explicit federal rules and guidance about certification would be especially helpful at this critical time when ownership of facilities is shifting to private equity, real estate investment trusts, and multi-facility operators that are frequently found to provide poorer quality of care to residents. The affiliated entities information now publicly reported by CMS provides ample evidence of problem companies whose facilities have a history of poor care. This information should be persuasive to Congress that CMS needs additional legal authority so that it can consider the records of facilities with owners in common when it makes federal certification decisions.
The Urgent Need for Criteria for Federal Certification of Nursing Facilities, Center for Medicare Advocacy, August 15, 2024
“This is scandalous. Nursing homes are quick to take taxpayer money, but too many are reluctant to pay the taxpayer back when money is owed.”
John Hale, a consultant and advocate for older adults, ‘This is scandalous:’ Iowa auditor asked to examine millions nursing homes owe taxpayers, Des Moines (Iowa) Register, August 19, 2024
August 13, 2024
“You can’t wait for a surveyor to come in once a year in response to a complaint. You want to be in a position to push back in a variety of ways every day or every week. It’s too easy for facilities to assume no harm, no foul,”
Eric Carlson, director of long-term services and supports advocacy, Justice in Aging, Assisted living policy needs a reset to benefit residents, long-term care system, McKnights Senior Living, July 24, 2024
“The current system is not prepared, at all, to ensure quality in Medicaid-funded assisted living,” [adding that the HCBS system is not set up for facility care and providing care for people whose care needs justify nursing home-level care]. “Long-term care facility policy needs a reset, particularly in assisted living,”
Eric Carlson, director of long-term services and supports advocacy, Justice in Aging, Assisted living policy needs a reset to benefit residents, long-term care system, McKnights Senior Living, July 24, 2024
With demographic shifts—particularly the fact that by 2030, one in five Americans will be aged 65 and older—the need for improvements in nursing home standards has never been more urgent. Experts warn that failure to ensure adequate staffing levels may further perpetuate the cycle of neglect and subpar care that many facilities are currently being scrutinized for.
New Mexico Nursing Homes Face Unacceptable Conditions, The Pinnacle Gazette, July 3, 2024
At the national legislative level, a recent proposal unveiled by the Biden Administration aimed at establishing minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes has seen pushback from some senators and industry representatives. These new regulations would require facilities to maintain a communication-satisfactory level of staffing, including providing at least 3.48 nursing hours per patient per day. Supporters of the measure argue it’s critical for ensuring quality care as the demands on nursing facilities grow, hence there’s considerable pressure to protect, rather than overturn, such regulations.
New Mexico Nursing Homes Face Unacceptable Conditions, The Pinnacle Gazette, July 3, 2024
“We know that the nature of [home care] work frequently exposes those workers to various risks and challenges. So, ensuring their safety and their well-being is of paramount importance. This in-home safety Grant Program offers funding for a comprehensive array of safety enhancements.”
Connecticut Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton-Reeves, Connecticut to spend $6 million to boost safety of home health care workers, Rhode Island Currant, August 5, 2024
“Even though there’s some significant investments in the bond bill, particularly for affordable housing and public housing, it doesn’t meet the urgency of the moment. We were disappointed that policies to actually protect working class people in our state were not included in the bond bill.”
Carolyn Chou, Homes for All Massachusetts, Guv Signs Housing Law, But Advocates Say It “Left So Much On The Table”, *State House News, August 6, 2024
‘I feel profoundly dehumanized and discriminated against.”
Preston Ruzicka, 18, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, commenting on the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s refusal to fund his accessible housing request, Sask. teen fighting for funding to receive 24/7 care near his post-secondary school, CBC, July 29, 2024
“I’m kind of excited to be able to have some place to live and go to school.”
Preston Ruzicka, 18, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, after the Saskatchewan Health Authority reversed their position on funding accessible housing, Sask. will now fund teen’s 24/7 supports near his post-secondary school, CBC, August 5, 2024
“Our skilled nursing facility and post-acute care institutional settings do not work as we all would like them to. A quarter of people in America who get care in a post-acute facility will have an adverse event, for example. Some studies put it even higher than that. We don’t want to send people to a place where 25% of the time something wrong is happening. We’re looking for a better way, and rehab at home is a possible way, but needs to be tested.”
Dr. David Levine, clinical director for research and development at Mass General Brigham’s Healthcare at Home, Mass General Brigham Lands $4.6M To Study Rehab Care At Home, Home Health Care News, August 6, 2024
The observable, cross-sectional study of 54 hospital workers and 54 nursing home workers (from many facility departments, not just the nursing corps) show that the nursing homes had higher scores and wider anxiety (74% vs. 42%), depression (41% vs. 15%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (56% vs. 26%) than their hospital counterparts.
Nursing home workers, this time the research is on your side, McKnights Long Term Care News, August 8, 2024
Violent altercations between residents in long-term care facilities are alarmingly common. Across the country, residents in nursing homes or assisted living centers have been killed by other residents who weaponized a bedrail, shoved pillow stuffing into a person’s mouth, or removed an oxygen mask.
A recent study in JAMA Network Open of 14 New York assisted living homes found that, within one month, 15% of residents experienced verbal, physical, or sexual resident-on-resident aggression. Another study found nearly 8% of assisted living residents engaged in physical aggression or abuse toward residents or staff members within one month.
Violent dementia patients leave nursing home staff and residents ‘scared to death’, NPR Shots, August 8, 2024
“The issue that we see quite often is that assisted living retains people they should not. They don’t have the staffing or the competency or the structure to provide safe care. Conversely, when facilities have enough rooms filled with paying customers, they are more likely to evict residents who require too much attention. They will kick them out if they’re too cumbersome,”
Violent dementia patients leave nursing home staff and residents ‘scared to death’, NPR Shots, August 8, 2024
“There needs to be much more of an effort to single out verbal and physical aggression that occurs in long-term care and begin to create a model of violence-free zones in the same way we have violence-free zones in the schools.”
Karl Pillemer, gerontologist at Cornell University and lead author of the JAMA study, Violent dementia patients leave nursing home staff and residents ‘scared to death’, NPR Shots, August 8, 2024
“When people move into a facility of any kind, they need to retain all their rights. There’s a lot of great places that are making sure their residents are getting to vote, but there’s just as many that aren’t.”
Carrie Leljedal, a family caregiver-turned-advocate, Resident advocates aim to protect voting rights in nursing homes ahead of contentious election, McKnights Long Term Care, August 8, 2024
“Nursing homes must ensure residents are able to exercise their right to vote. We continue to encourage states, localities, and nursing home owners and administrators to collaborate to ensure residents’ right to vote is not impeded.”
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reissued guidance originally sent in October 2020, Resident advocates aim to protect voting rights in nursing homes ahead of contentious election, McKnights Long Term Care, August 8, 2024
“Today, we honor our heritage and commit to building upon it. With this transformative legislation [The HERO Act], we pledge to provide the best veterans’ services in the country, ensuring every veteran receives the respect and support they deserve.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Governor Maura Healey Signs Historic HERO Act, Ushering in New Era for Veterans in Massachusetts (Office of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, August 8, 2024)
“We want to make sure that the people who are living [in nursing homes] are treated with respect, and that services are good quality, but we’d like to see many of them living outside a nursing home and back in the community.”
Paul Lanzikos, Coordinator, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, Nursing Home Reform Languishes on Beacon Hill, *The Provincetown Independent, August 7, 2024
[N]early all lower-income renter households lack the income needed to cover their essential expenses after paying rent. An adequate and holistic safety net that addresses these overlapping and compounding challenges is crucial to ensure households can meet their basic needs.
Renters Struggle with Competing Costs of Food, Energy, and Housing, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, August 8, 2024
“Long-term care communities do not operate in a vacuum. The challenge in battling vaccine reluctance (misinformation, hesitancy, and fatigue) is not unique to the long-term care community but is systemic among the US population at large. There is not one thing that will fix this challenge—it really takes a multi-pronged approach. Increasing uptake requires a collective endeavor by public health officials, other health care providers, and the general public.”
American Health Care Association Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Gifford, COVID on the rise in nursing homes along with vaccine reluctance and mistrust, McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 11, 2024
“We have more reconfigured families than ever before, and these families may increasingly rely on someone who’s not a biological child. In general, those relationships tend to be less close. Children are less likely to provide assistance to a stepparent.”
Deborah Carr, a Boston University sociologist, When Elder Care Is All in the Stepfamily, New York Times (free access), August 3, 2024
August 6, 2024
In one instance, a resident told inspectors that she was left to sit in urine for more than six hours when a nurse assistant refused to change her. She said the situation happened often and left her feeling “hopeless, sad, angry, helpless and start(ing) to have suicidal thoughts.”
Blueberry Hill nursing home cited for abuse, *Salem News, July 31, 2024
Multiple budget lines in ]Seashore Point’s] Medicaid cost report did not pass the “smell test,” said [Christopher] Cherney [an expert in nursing home administration]. One of the most confounding was $266,440 that the facility reported in advertising expenses for 2021. He called that number for a 41-bed nursing home with a 91-percent occupancy rate and without any apparent nearby competitors “unprecedented.”
“I’m trying to understand this advertising fee, and it doesn’t square with my experience,” said Cherney. “It’s a potential place to hide profit.” If the number reported was accurate, then the nursing home would have spent over $22,000 per month on advertising in 2021.
Reviewers Suspect Fraud in Nursing Home Filings, The Provincetown Independent, July 31, 2024
Since taking over the nursing home at Seashore Point in 2019, the current owners have used a complex network of companies to pay themselves hidden profits — possibly totaling over $1 million — while cutting nursing staff hours dramatically, according to expert analysis of the company’s federal and state filings.
Reviewers Suspect Fraud in Nursing Home Filings, The Provincetown Independent, July 31, 2024
An open container of pudding in a storage area was surrounded by several small black flies and a container of teriyaki sauce without a lid was covered with a “black wispy growth.”
Blueberry Hill nursing home cited for abuse, *Salem News, July 31, 2024
Everyone deserves to age with dignity and financial security. But on July 10, the House Appropriations Committee advanced several bills that cut FY25 funding for many key programs that support the health, financial security, and independence of older adults.
House Committee Slashes Aging Services Investments for FY25, National Council on Aging, July 22, 2024
“This virus is still very, very new to humans, and the virus wants to live, and the way that it lives is by evading immunity.”
Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, ‘The virus wants to live.’ California’s big COVID spike isn’t expected to ease anytime soon, Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2024
[Elizabeth] Francis’s advice to living a long life at age 115 is the same as it was last year at 114: “Speak your mind and don’t hold your tongue.”
Oldest person in the U.S. turns 115 today: ‘She’s surprised us all’, Washington Post (free access), July 25, 2024
That’s the way it is now. The past is dissolving. The future is uncertain. We don’t know how much time we have left together. Right now, right this instant, is the best it will ever be.
Adeline Goss, a neuro-hospitalist and associate chief of neurology at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA, whose mother is undergoing intravenous infusion of lecanemab to minimize the progression of dementia, I’m not sure what to think of the new Alzheimer’s drugs (*Boston Globe, August 4, 2024 (Updated))
Our country is founded on the vision set out in the Declaration of Independence — that all of us are created equal and are endowed with the same rights. America has become stronger when our country has expanded its promise to marginalized Americans, including, yes, Americans with disabilities. Making progress requires us to embrace each other’s intrinsic humanity. Our American mission is to bring out the best in each other — when we have, our country has flourished.
Maggie Hassan, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire, Trump’s disability comments are cruel to families like mine, *Boston Globe, August 5, 2024
“When new information revealed the possibility of dangerous understaffing and poor quality of care, my office and the Department of Public Health promptly filed an emergency petition and secured a temporary receiver. Receivership will help stabilize the situation by taking control of finances and supporting daily operations, while protecting the welfare of residents and staff.”
Statement from the Office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell regarding nursing homes owned by BluPoint Healthcare, Local nursing homes facing fines, receivership, The Reminder, July 30, 2024
July 30, 2024
“The whole continuum of care is under stress. There’s a workforce crisis, there’s a question about pay, there’s a question about accountability.’’
State Senator Patricia Jehlen, Chair, Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, Reforms, Reforms promising greater oversight and regulation of nursing and long-term care facilities pass Senate, *Boston Globe, July 27, 2024
“It was horrific because you just knew it wasn’t right, and it was right before your eyes and you couldn’t do anything about it.”
Family member of a resident at Seashore Pointe, an AdviniaCare facility in Provincetown, MA, who had a drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, (MRSA),Patients Suffer at Outer Cape’s Only Nursing Home, The Provincetown Independent, July 25, 2024
“My disability defines me just as much and just as little as being a woman, parent, or educator.”
Rebekah Taussig, who has incomplete paralysis from childhood cancer, Up First, NPR, July 29, 2024
“People with disabilities often have developed ways to help themselves that you may not recognize. Always ASK.”
Kathy Hyde who was born with a dislocated right hip and club foot and uses crutches and wheelchairs to get around, Up First, NPR, July 29, 2024
“Most people will become disabled sometime before they die. Disabled people are just like you. We have hopes and dreams, wants, and desires. We love and need to be loved.”
Marty Slighte, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Up First, NPR, July 29, 2024
Seniors living in substandard nursing homes without adequate staffing can’t wait until next year for action.
The Editorial Board, After reports of dismal conditions, nursing homes need more staff — and more oversight, Boston Globe, July 28, 2024
“This is not over. It’s regrettable that Ralph de la Torre and Steward’s greed and mismanagement are resulting in the closures of Carney and Nashoba Valley hospitals. These hospitals have long served their communities – their closures are about more than the loss of beds, doctors, and nurses.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey, Governor Healey Demands Steward Finalize Deals for Remaining Five Hospitals, Office of Governor Maura Healey, July 26, 2024
“The message here is that hospices are on notice that there will be significant reform like we have not seen since the benefit was implemented 40 years ago.”
Katie Wehri, director of home care and hospice regulatory affairs, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, The Hospice CARE Act‘s Potential Unintended Consequences, Hospice News, July 26, 2024
“This was a handout to insurance companies. Insurers were getting payments from the states even as many folks either didn’t know about their coverage, or as they already had other coverage they were using.”
Benjamin Ukert, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University, Medicaid, Medicaid Was a Boon to Insurers During the Pandemic. Now, Not So Much.,*Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2024
“We are pushing working people into homelessness because they just can’t afford the rent. The general public doesn’t see these folks as homeless — they’re not as visible as the people who occupy public spaces, who have substance abuse issues or mental health problems. But it’s a catastrophe, and it’s happening just under our eyes.”
Margot Kushel, director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California at San Francisco, They have jobs, but no homes. Inside America’s unseen homelessness crisis., Washington Post (free access), July 28, 2024
“High rents are the singular factor driving homelessness, so that’s what we need to address,” said “It’s pretty cost-efficient to give people a subsidy if they’re having trouble affording rent. If you don’t do that, that person becomes homeless and that’s much more expensive and inhumane to solve for, because now they’re also going through all of this extra trauma.”
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness, They have jobs, but no homes. Inside America’s unseen homelessness crisis., Washington Post (free access), July 28, 2024
“Extensive training requirements may lead to high student debt among some healthcare workers, while nonprofessional health workers may be at risk for medical debt due to low wages and poor benefits.”
Kathryn E. W. Himmelstein, MD, MSEd, and Alexander C. Tsai, MD, both affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Educational, medical debt high among nursing home, home health workers: study, McKnights Senior Living, July 29, 2024
July 23, 2024
“It’s shameful that the nursing home industry would rather line its own pockets than follow these standards, provide better care, and save lives.”
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Nursing home staffing mandate would save thousands of lives, researchers say (*USA Today, July 20, 2024)
“We need to hold accountable those [nursing home] investors who control the funding. They buy these up and then sell them quickly. We need to make sure they are held accountable for their finances and ensuring the financial stability of the long-term health care institutions.
State Senator Jacob Oliveira, State providing nursing care at troubled South Hadley facility, MassLive.com, July 19, 2024
“I commend the Attorney General’s office for taking decisive action to protect some of our community’s most vulnerable. Moving forward, our primary focus must be on ensuring the safety, well-being, and dignity of both the residents and the hardworking staff who care for them.”
State Senator Jacob Oliveira, State Imposes Receiver On Three Long-Term Care Centers,*State House News, July 22, 2024
“When older adults and others with mobility-related disabilities enter nursing facilities, they generally have to give up a lot – their lives in the community, their sense of independence. That tradeoff is significant, but to not actually get the care you are entitled to, to be treated in a way that robs you of your dignity, then that tradeoff becomes unconscionable. It’s the state’s role to keep nursing facilities from treating people this way.”
Regan Bailey, Litigation Director, Justice in Aging, Nursing Facility Residents with Disabilities Sue Over State of Maryland’s Failure to Provide Oversight and Investigate Complaints, Justice in Aging, May 16, 2024
“If they’re going to come out and diagnose people with things they don’t have, they shouldn’t get any more money.”
Gloria Lee, retired Boston area accountant insured by United Healthcare, who was diagnosed as having diabetic cataracts, a condition she does not have, Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated, *Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2024 (updated)
“While we applaud President Biden’s dedication to resident safety and dignity, the final CMS rule falls significantly short of what numerous studies have indicated is necessary for basic clinical care. While it may offer relief to residents in facilities with very low staffing, it jeopardizes residents in those with higher staffing levels, since those operators are now incentivized to decrease their staffing to the new federal standard.”
Report from the Long Term Care Community Coalition, Patient advocates say new nursing home staffing standards don’t go far enough (Association of Healthcare Journalists, July 19. 2024)
“I am in collections with Western CT Health Network (Nuvance) … for the unpaid claims by my employer [Athena Health Care Systems] of $234,285 for treatment of my deceased spouse,” one worker wrote in January 2023. “He passed away on 3/5/21. I have received numerous letters from this law office that have been brought to my employers’ attention at the corporate level.
An employee of Athena Health Care Systems, Athena nursing home workers say medical bills still going unpaid (CT Mirror, July 21, 2024)
In one inspection report from March, surveyors said that a resident fell in a cluttered janitor’s closet a month previously. Staff members were “unaware” that the resident, who had dementia and was a high fall risk, had wandered into the secure area and that the janitor’s closet had been left open.
State’s largest nursing home prepares to close following patient safety violations, Montana Free Press, July 18, 2024
Federal Medicaid officials found many states didn’t do [eligibility redeterminations] properly after the pandemic—and sometimes before. For example, over 400,000 eligible people lost coverage because states assessed household, not individual, eligibility.
Federal Oversight of State Eligibility Redeterminations Should Reflect Lessons Learned after COVID-19, U.S. General Accountability Office, July 18, 2024
Results showed that Black patients were 17% less likely to have palliative care encounters and 9% less likely to have DNR status compared to non-Hispanic white patients across all hospitals.
Study finds racial disparities in end-of-life hospital care (McKnights Long Term Care News, July 14, 2024)
“While it is typically available in hospital and cancer center settings, unfortunately, palliative care is not consistently and widely available in every nursing home in the United States. It really depends on where you live. Non-hospice palliative care in nursing homes is hard to come by.”
Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, an associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine—Indianapolis, Palliative care is underutilized in nursing homes, says study, Medical Xpress, July 16, 2024
“I could never look on my life as a failure — it’s far beyond anything I ever thought I would attain.”
Bob Newhart, ‘I’ve lived in an incredible time’: Comic Bob Newhart dies at 94, NPR, July 18, 2024
The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit have mobility-related disabilities that require full-time nursing care to eat, drink water, use the bathroom, maintain personal hygiene, socialize and take care of themselves. The lawsuit claims that those residents — many of whom cannot work and rely on public assistance and fixed incomes — are often left in soiled clothes or bedding with their calls for help going unanswered for hours at a time.
Some of the plaintiffs developed bed sores and others are at risk of developing lesions from being left immobile in those conditions for too long.
Maryland failed to inspect nursing homes for years, lawsuit alleges, *Washington Post, May 17, 2024
“They’re trying to look for supplies, and I’m standing there and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have any of that gauze for you, or those ace wraps. We don’t have them and the residents, I mean, they get affected. Small things are major things when it comes to health.”
Hailey Minichiello, a nurse at Blackstone Valley Health and Rehabilitation in Whitinsville, MA, Nurses at Blackstone Valley Health & Rehabilitation say they’re not getting paid and conditions are deteriorating, Spectrum News 1, July 19, 2024
“Many folks in Massachusetts face cost barriers in access to the medications they are prescribed, especially for many of our most vulnerable residents who live with chronic disease. This bill aims to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of certain lifesaving drugs and ban certain business practices that are commonly used by PBMs to increase their own profits at the expense of patients.”
House Speaker Ron Mariano, House Joining Senate In Prescription Drug Push, *State House News, July 22, 2024
“We know that nearly all [COVID] transmission happens indoors, in places with poor ventilation and/or poor filtration. One hypothesis is that these building factors and human behavior are driving the summertime increases in cases.”
Joseph Allen, associate professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings Program, COVID Rates Are Rising Again. Why Does It Spread So Well in the Summer?, Scientific American, July 16, 2024
Long COVID can affect people across the lifespan from children to older adults and across race and ethnicity and baseline health status. Importantly, more than 90% of people with long COVID had mild COVID-19 infections.
Long COVID puzzle pieces are falling into place – the picture is unsettling, The Conversation, July 18, 2024
July 16, 2024
“I can’t wait to get out of here.”
Leonard Wright, 52 year old man who has been a resident at Highview of Northampton for two and a half years, ‘A dog pound would be better.’ Inside one of the most-fined nursing homes in Mass., *Mass Live, July 14, 2024
Government inspections [of Highview of Northampton nursing home] over the last three years flagged 76 deficiencies, failures to meet federal standards. Since June 1, 2021, surveyors found 15 instances of failing to keep residents free from abuse, neglect or exploitation. Officials cited other issues including failing to give patients appropriate treatments, failing to meet kitchen sanitation standards, and having a medication error rate of more than 5%.
Highview is one of the most fined facilities in Massachusetts by the federal government in the past three years. It has not met state standards for registered nurse hours and has well above the national average of health citations. It ranks in the bottom 2% of facilities based on performance data kept by the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. It has a one-star rating (out of five) from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
‘A dog pound would be better.’ Inside one of the most-fined nursing homes in Mass., *Mass Live, July 14, 2024
The facility is “notorious.” “Unfortunately, Highview has a long-established reputation of poor-quality care. They should have been shut down a long time ago.”
Paul Lanzikos, former state secretary of elder affairs and coordinator and co-founder of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, ‘A dog pound would be better.’ Inside one of the most-fined nursing homes in Mass., *Mass Live, July 14, 2024
“Our veterans, who served our nation bravely and give back to our communities daily, deserve nothing less than a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.”
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces $6.7 Million in Federal Funds to Combat Veteran Homelessness, Office of Governor Maura Healey and Ly. Governor Kim Driscoll, July 11, 2024
“Need assistance. Not enough staff. Laying in urine all day,” reads a complaint filed in late 2021 with the city health department. “Tired of being overlooked, hasn’t had a decent bath since she’s been there,” another complaint, from December 2023, reads.
“When she calls for help they do not come so she calls the local health department,” reads an adult protective services intake form the city health department filed.
Inside understaffing problem at Mass. nursing homes, *Mass Live, July 14, 2024
“I worked all night last night and there are many nurses who are running on ‘empty. We’re not able to provide adequate wound care, we have no supplies. We’re having residents go into smaller briefs than appropriate.”
Hailey Minichiello, staff member at Blackstone Valley Health & Rehabilitation in Northbridge, MA, Nurses at Northbridge rehab hospital picket over no pay, lack of resources (*Worcester Telegram & Gazette, July 12, 2024)
“It’s shameful that they provide us with these conditions when all we try to do is uphold the patients’ dignity. It’s absolutely disappointing.”
Apryl Doire, nursing assistant at Blackstone Valley Health & Rehabilitation in Northbridge, MA, Nurses at Northbridge rehab hospital picket over no pay, lack of resources (*Worcester Telegram & Gazette, July 12, 2024)
“I’m very upset for my residents. I miss my residents. I treated them like my own family members so it’s a very difficult thing for me to quit. I was on the same floor since I was a CNA (certified nurse aide) — that should tell them (Bluepoint) something. I’ve lost trust and I’ve lost respect for them.”
Nichole Rondeau who recently resigned as a nurse at Blackstone Valley Health & Rehabilitation in Northbridge, MA, Nurses at Northbridge rehab hospital picket over no pay, lack of resources (*Worcester Telegram & Gazette, July 12, 2024)