http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-931382.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Because Florida has such a large population of seniors, the state also has a large number of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Not too long ago, a number of high-profile abuse and neglect cases prompted the state to adopt sweeping new regulations for these places. Tom Flanigan reports those steps seem to be working.
As one of Florida's leading elder law attorneys and senior advocates, Twyla Sketchley remembers how bad some of the state's nursing homes used to be.
"If you could think of the horrible thing that could possibly happen in a facility - people being restrained by physical restraints - basically being tied down in their bed and people coming to their aid when THEY felt it was appropriate, not when the resident needed assistance - everything from that to just you name it, those were done."
Even when there wasn't actual neglect and abuse, there were often situations that flew in the face of simple common decency. Sketchley recalls one such case she was involved with.
"There was a bathing room down the hall across the living room. And the facility would escort the elders in that facility down the hall for their bath and bring them back across the living room wrapped in a towel after their bath."
In 1998, the Tampa Tribune published a blistering series of investigative reports on Florida's for-profit elder-care industry. The writers concluded that lax state laws allowed home operators to short-change their residents with very little government oversight. But the new century brought significant changes. Florida adopted new laws and regulations to increase the quantity and quality of care in the state's nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The number of truly horrific cases of resident abuse and neglect has dropped considerably over the past ten years. Still, Brian Lee who heads the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program under the Florida Department of Elder Affairs says there are still problems.
"I mean last year we had 8,363 complaints that we investigated on top of the more than 3,000 facility visits we did through the administrative assessments, so our volunteers are working hard out there."
And when Lee says "volunteers", he means a relative handful of people who get no compensation beyond some modest travel expense reimbursement.
"We need volunteers desperately. We have about 400 volunteers in our program. We need, to be really effective, we need over 3,000 and I don't just come up with this number arbitrarily. There was a report about the ombudsman program in 1995 that stated for ombudsman programs to be truly effective if not exemplary, you need one ombudsman for every 25 to 30 residents."
Lee says the whole purpose of the Ombudsman Program is to be a total advocate for anyone who lives in these facilities.
"Our allegiance lies with the residents and the residents are our boss. They tell us what we do and if they have concerns about something, then we have the concern about something. Whatever their issues are, we're going to go to bat for them."
The program's Legal Advocate Aubrey Posey says some of the complaints are pretty minor some may even consider them petty.
"Things that perhaps a regulatory agency wouldn't care about..you know, whether the bacon is cooked crisp enough."
But sometimes the complaints are about something far more serious, even criminal. When that's the case, especially if a particular facility is a repeat violator, Lee says it's time to call in the cavalry.
"We're not an enforcement agency and we're not regulatory in any way. We're advocacy. And so we'd reach out to the Agency for Health Care Administration, Adult Protective Services, the Attorney General's Office, whatever the matter may be. Now it's those agencies that would make the determination about whether or not a facility be closed down."
Of course, the best way to solve a problem is to avoid it in the first place. Elder Law Attorney Twyla Sketchley says that means careful shopping when looking for an elder-care facility for a loved one, or yourself.
"Go out and smell it when you walk in. Look at how the other residents look. Look at how the staff treats them. Ask the facility the level of background checks they do on their staff and their volunteers. Ask them what their recent inspection resulted in. You can actually, in the State of Florida, look up the inspections for assisted living facilities and nursing homes through the Agency for Health Care Administration."
And, if there's a problem after an individual is settled into that facility, be aware the Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is just a phone call away.