Health News
- Beshear To Study Nursing-home Staffing Minimums, Suggests Homes' High Liability Costs Are Related To Poorly Ranked Care
Responding to a letter from Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, which cited a low ranking for the state's nursing homes, Gov. Steve Beshear said he is "committed to taking steps toward improving the quality of care in Kentucky nursing homes,"...
- Nursing Homes Want Panel To Review Lawsuits Against Them
"A long-term care industry group wants a new law in Kentucky that would create medical review panels to evaluable potential lawsuits against nursing homes, personal care homes and some facilities for the intellectually and developmentally disabled," reports...
- Nursing Home Ombudsman Program At Risk Because Of 'callous And Apparenly Clueless' Move By Feds, Advocate Writes
The Kentucky long-term care ombudsman program is at risk in Kentucky due to a change in federal policy. The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services is "quietly telling some state aging leaders that by Jan. 1 they will no longer be allowed to use civil...
- Brain-injured Man Disappeared When Home Staff Wasn't Looking
On the day of his disappearance, a resident of a personal-care home who was found dead four weeks later had not been checked on by staff for nearly three hours, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing documents from a state...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...
Health News
Justice Dept. accuses Erlanger nursing home of collecting on 'worthless services;' suit is first of its kind in Kentucky
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a civil complaint against Villaspring Health Care and Rehabilitation in Erlanger and its parent company, Carespring Health Care Management, claiming they "billed Medicare and Medicaid for services purportedly provided to its residents despite knowing that the services were so inadequate that they were essentially worthless," Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
The complaint was the first in Kentucky alleging that a nursing home violated the federal False Claims Act. "Today's filing represents an important milestone in the effort to ensure effective care for Medicare and Medicaid recipients in long-term care facilities," U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey said.
The list of allegations include failures to follow physicians' orders, treat wounds and pressure sores, update resident care plans, give enough to drink, give regular baths and monitor diabetics' blood-sugar levels, Spears reports. The complaint alleges there were numerous injuries and at least five deaths from 2004 to 2008 due to improper care.
Officials of the nursing home officials invited journalists to tour the facility and denied any wrongdoing. "We do not feel that the government's case has any merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously," Carespring spokeswoman Kim Majick said. "Villaspring has consistently provided high-quality care to the residents of Kenton County and looks forward to doing so in the future." (Read more)
- Beshear To Study Nursing-home Staffing Minimums, Suggests Homes' High Liability Costs Are Related To Poorly Ranked Care
Responding to a letter from Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, which cited a low ranking for the state's nursing homes, Gov. Steve Beshear said he is "committed to taking steps toward improving the quality of care in Kentucky nursing homes,"...
- Nursing Homes Want Panel To Review Lawsuits Against Them
"A long-term care industry group wants a new law in Kentucky that would create medical review panels to evaluable potential lawsuits against nursing homes, personal care homes and some facilities for the intellectually and developmentally disabled," reports...
- Nursing Home Ombudsman Program At Risk Because Of 'callous And Apparenly Clueless' Move By Feds, Advocate Writes
The Kentucky long-term care ombudsman program is at risk in Kentucky due to a change in federal policy. The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services is "quietly telling some state aging leaders that by Jan. 1 they will no longer be allowed to use civil...
- Brain-injured Man Disappeared When Home Staff Wasn't Looking
On the day of his disappearance, a resident of a personal-care home who was found dead four weeks later had not been checked on by staff for nearly three hours, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing documents from a state...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...