Heritage Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

Over 3.2 million adults live in assisted living facilities in the US, and at least a third of them will suffer some form of abuse during their stay. This is a serious risk to their health and well-being, as elderly residents have a 300% greater chance of dying within three years after the first incidence of abuse.

While most nursing home residents receive proper care, it’s worth mentioning that cases of elder abuse are difficult to spot and measure. Often victims are already frail and suffering declining health. It’s difficult to say if a mysterious bruise or sudden drop in weight is due to the effects of advanced age or careless staff.

The frailest victims are also the ones least likely to report abuse, as they are often incapable of doing so or fear retribution. Consequently, it is estimated that most cases of elder abuse go unreported, and the true frequency of abuse in nursing homes is much higher than current statistics indicate.

As Levin & Perconti has become more familiar with the tragedy that is elder abuse in our work with victims and their families, we’ve learned that often the root cause of nursing home abuse is poor employment practices. The vast majority of nursing homes are for-profit entities that care more about profits than people.

With more and more Americans approaching their later years, investors have used the increased demand for elder care to their advantage, buying up struggling assisted living facilities and healthcare networks with the goal of turning a profit.

While these investors are savvy business owners, they are apathetic when it comes to healthcare, and the quality of care provided at these facilities is often substandard.

A common way new owners maximize profits is by saving on staffing costs. They either fail to hire enough staff, leaving existing staff stretched thin, or replace highly skilled and more expensive workers with less qualified employees who warrant lower wages. Either way, overworked and under-trained staff spell disaster for vulnerable assisted living residents who need specialized, professional care.

When there are too few staff members to assist all residents, neglect, and abuse quickly follow. A 2001 study found that for-profit nursing homes had on average 32% fewer nurses and consequently 47% more deficiencies in care than their non-profit counterparts. Overworked staff are incapable of meeting every resident’s needs, and the level of care received quickly declines. Mistakes are made and important signs of illness and decline are missed. Unqualified staff may try to fill the gaps, but they do not have the expertise to follow best practices.

Furthermore, busy or apathetic managers may fail to perform proper background checks on new employees and hire dangerous individuals not suited for caregiver roles. These staff members may be predatory and violent or resort to acting out frustrations on defenseless residents in a stressful environment.

The point is, greed and the subsequent lack of qualified caregivers in nursing homes are major causes of elder abuse and neglect. Sometimes these issues affect a whole network of nursing homes, and other times individual homes manage to rise above the deficiencies of their sister facilities. The latter appears to be the case for nursing homes within the Heritage Operations Group.