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What's the Truth About Nursing Homes?
THE NEW "Consumer Reports" RATING -
HOW
CONNECTICUT FARED
 After a year of
research, Consumer Reports has published the first objective
national ranking of nursing homes. The report, which appears in the magazine's
August (1995) issue, ranks 43 for-profit chains and not-for-profit religous
groups that operate some 4,000 nursing home facilities across the U.S.
According to the August report, conditions in many nursing homes range from
inadequate to scandalous, and high-quality facilities are extremely difficult to
find. In fact, Consumer Reports learned that about 40 percent of all
facilities certified by the Health Care Financing Administration have repeatedly
violated Federal standards over the last four inspection surveys, including
standards covering critical aspects of patient care. Many facilities allow
life-threatening bed sores to develop, violate residents' dignity, fail to
produce required care plans to assure a decent quality of life, improperly use
physical restraints such as vest and waist belts, and fail to meet basic
standards for sanitary food preparation.
CONNECTICUT STANDS OUT
For Connecticut residents the report carries some positive news: of the 43
companies nationwide that Consumer Reports rated. the fourth and fifth
best are Connecticut organizations. The two, APPLE HEALTH CARE
and Athena Health Care Systems, are the highest-ranking organizations not
associated with a religous group. APPLE HEALTH CARE, HEADQUARTERED IN
AVON, OPERATES 21 "SPECIALTY CARE SERVICES" FACILITIES; Athena, with
main offices in Southington, also operates 21 Chronic and Convalescent Nursing
Homes in the state.
The three top-rated nursing home groups in Consumer Reports rankings
were of the mission-oriented variety, affiliated with the Friends General
Conference, Church of the Brethren and the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal
Church is affiliated with the Curtis Home in Meriden, and the Seabury Retirement
Community in Bloomfield, though it does not manage these facilities. Beverly
Enterprises, a national chain which owns seven facilities in Connecticut, was
rated slightly better than average by Consumer Reports.
Least illustrious of our state's showings was Mariner Convalescent Services,
which Consumer Reports ranked 38th of the 43 organizations. The company
operates three nursing homes in Connecticut, as well as facilities in
Massachusetts, Texas and Florida.
INFORMATION, PLEASE
The Consumer Reports article also focused on the difficulty of
tracking down a nursing home's performance records. Its investigator encountered
many facilities across the U.S. which made state inspection reports unavailable
to consumers.
In Connecticut, a full listing of state-licensed nursing home facilities is
available for $7 from the State Department of Public Health and Addiction
Services. The book includes Chronic and Convalescent Nursing Homes (CCNHs), Rest
Homes with Nursing Supervision (RHNSs) and Homes for the Aged (HAs). Each
listing details the type of facility; number of beds; Medicare/Medicad
acceptance; proprietary ownership; daily private and semi-private rates;
religious affiliation and services; foreign languages spoken by staff; programs
available and number of full-time employees by profession.
The state literature also notes any "Class A" and/or "Class B" citations
issued to a facility. A Class A violation is defined as one which has resulted
in "immediate danger of death or serious harm," while a Class B violation
involves "probability of death or serious harm." In the state book, these are
cryptically noted. While a majority of Connecticut's facilities show no
citations at all, those that do simply state such infractions as "physician
notification," "restraint release," "protection from an accident" and so on. No
detailed explanation of the infractions are given, nor is there any information
about when the incident took place or how it was corrected. However, when we
contacted the State Department of Public Health and Addiction Services for more
information about citations, a detailed and up-to-date report was promptly
provided.
Within Consumer Reports generally bleak picture of the nursing home
industry, Connecticut made a suprisingly good showing. Highly-rated facilities,
along with relatively easy access to information on the state level, contradict
many of the complaints encountered nationally by
Consumer Reports.
-- Todd Lyon and Matthew Holden Lewis
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