Kenosha Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys Share Disturbing News
Kenosha Nursing Homes Receive Poor Ratings by Federal Survey
On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ric Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Nursing Home Abuse on Tuesday, June 29, 2010.
According to a recent federal survey, Kenosha nursing homes (comprised of more than half of Medicare-certified hospitals) received below and well-below average rankings based on several rankings categories.
The survey, administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provides nursing home care facilities with a five-star rating that evaluates the centers’ hiring practices, staff policies, resident rights, pharmacy services and the overall nursing home environments. The survey was established to increase the quality of nursing home care, to identify areas where improvement is needed and to attempt to eliminate the likelihood of nursing home abuse in U.S. facilities.
Kenosha facilities received low overall rankings, one star, despite receiving four stars for quality measures, based on the survey criteria. For this reason, many Wisconsin nursing home administrators are currently defending its poor rankings, citing that the survey is “flawed” in many ways. Furthermore, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis., introduced a bill last month, Improving the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes Act, in “hopes of evaluating the survey’s accuracy and effectiveness in order to possibly find an alternative system and improve the quality of care in nursing homes.”
As this bill slowly makes its way through the U.S. Legislature, Wisconsin nursing homes continue to defend the quality of its care facilities despite the “unwarranted” rankings that many believe “do not reflect the facilities’ true quality of care.” Brian Purtell, director of legal services of the Wisconsin Health Care Association, expressed that “the problem with the survey is (the five-star ranking) weighs too much on the survey process.” He further expressed that the lack of patient feedback and actual tours of the facilities contribute to the “hopelessly broken” nature of the survey.
Despite the opposition to the survey rankings, the five-star system gives consumers a starting point for information on facilities in Wisconsin. Consumers are urged not to use the survey finding as a final evaluation of these facilities and recommends that consumers visit these facilities before making a decision.
Related Resources: Local nursing homes defend low rankings
If you need legal help from a Milwaukee personal injury attorney for a nursing abuse case, contact Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. today.