Our share of the fuct nursing homes

By way of Consumerist we have a list of the nation’s worst offenders in the elder care system, 128 facilities singled out for “special focus.” Here in our area there’s two getting the skunk-eye from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Carolyn Boone Lewis Health Care Center in DC proper has been on the list for a full 34 months. You can see the full assessment here, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say this is a facility on the short road to losing funding toot sweet. Some joyous little bits are a below-average percentage of residents getting flu and/or pneumococcal vaccines (60% & 19% vs District averages of 83% and 68%), below average number of RN minutes per resident (11min vs 30min DC and National average) and 18 health deficiencies cites, rather than the DC average of 15 or the National average of 8.

nursing home is a place for people who don’t need to be in a hospital but can’t be cared for at home. Most nursing homes have nursing aides and skilled nurses on hand 24 hours a day. Some nursing homes are set up like a hospital. The staff provides medical care like hemodialysis, as well as physical, speech and occupational therapy.

Home care allows for a more personal, one-on-one relationship with the caregiver, to get it just visit the pageSeniors are able to remain as independent as they are able, rather than needing to turn over basic tasks to nursing home professionals. In-home care is often less expensive than care out of the home.

Ruxton Health Of Woodbridge is the only Virginia facility on the list and a comparative newcomer with only 18 months on the list. Their percentages also looked better with regards to bedsores, vaccinations, and other items. It’s when you get into the citations that this for-profit agency looks worse with 21 health citations and 6 fire safety citations, versus the average 8 and 3. Scarily, the few items that supposedly impacted “many” rather than “few” residents was their failure to “Store, cook, and give out food in a safe and clean way” and “Get rid of garbage properly.” Yuck.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.

Hmm, guess I just did.

My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.

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