At a time when incidents of California nursing home abuse and negligence are rampant, a new study has found the government program that is meant to increase the level of scrutiny of poorly performing nursing homes still leaves out hundreds of troubled facilities. According to an Associated Press news report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services identifies up to 136 nursing homes as "special focus" facilities that will be inspected more often because of their prior violations. But Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators say that the number should actually be closer to 580 -- four times what it is right now.

Number of Troubled Nursing Homes On the Rise

The AP report quotes Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, as saying that he would like to see more "explicit warnings" about nursing homes be placed on Web sites such as Medicare's Nursing Home Compare , which grades nursing homes. The GAO recommended expanding the nursing home "special focus" program two years ago. But that did not happen because federal officials, who admitted the need for the program expansion, said they did not have the resources to do so. According to the GAO list, there are 40 nursing homes here in California with extremely poor living conditions and the worst performance. However, only four in California come under the "special focus" list.

The GAO report also found that the worst performing facilities tend to be the for-profit nursing homes that are affiliated with a chain of nursing homes. The worst performing nursing homes also tend to be larger facilities averaging 102 residents. Nationwide, there are about 16,000 nursing homes. The 580 facilities identified by the GAO as the worst performing accounts for about 4 percent of the nation's nursing homes.

An Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

The findings of this latest GAO study make sense to me. In many cases, the negligence of nursing home staff is the direct cause of the patient's serious personal injury or death. Going by the numerous media accounts and increasing coverage of abuse and neglect in nursing homes nationwide, it seems clear that nursing home negligence and abuse is far greater now. Understaffing in nursing homes and some for-profit homes' unwritten policy of putting profits over their residents' well-being has led to this state of affairs.

If your family member has been seriously injured or killed as a result of nursing home negligence or abuse, please contact a reputed California personal injury lawyer, who has experience and a successful track record handling nursing home cases and California wrongful death claims. Taking action against these facilities that do grievous wrong to their patients and the families that entrust their loved ones to their care, is the best way to deter them from pursuing unethical business practices.

The BISNAR|CHASE personal injury law firm is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.

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