Indiana scored its third consecutive failing grade in nursing home care despite inching higher in overall ranking this year, reports Families for Better Care, a national nursing home resident advocacy group based in Austin. The group published its third state-by-state nursing home report card by analyzing eight federal measures to gauge nursing home quality.
Indiana nursing homes continue to rank among worst in the nation in hiring enough frontline staff to safely care for residents as nearly 70 percent of the state’s facilities failed to score an above rating in direct care staffing hours.
According to the state’s report card, barely 1 in 3 facilities are staffed appropriately, that’s nearly 40 less than the previous reporting period.
“Understaffed nursing homes have become a chronic problem in the Hoosier State,” said Brian Lee, the group’s executive director. “Residents are unable to be cared for properly when they are afforded little more than 2 hours and 15 minutes direct care per day.”
Nursing home hallways depleted in staff is a key contributor to worsening inspection scores and an uptick of safety violations. Indiana nursing homes with above average inspection scores dropped to a record low for the state (26.5 percent) while the percentage of nursing homes with deficiencies trended to the state’s highest report card level (97.6 percent).
“A great way for Governor Holcomb and the Indiana Legislature to reverse the state’s trend of nursing home neglect is by passing a tough staffing standard, something the residents sorely need,” Lee stated. “But a new staffing standard won’t be enough, lawmakers must find a way to help nursing homes pay for any new staffing mandate if care is to improve at all.”
Indiana’s 2019 Nursing Home Report Card is available for download at http://www.nursinghomereportcards.com.
ABOUT FAMILIES FOR BETTER CARE
Families for Better Care, Inc. is a non-profit citizen advocacy group dedicated to creating public awareness of the conditions in our nation’s nursing homes and developing solutions for improving quality of life and care. For more information, visit http://familiesforbettercare.com.
