nursing homes

As the U.S. government debates whether to require higher staffing levels at nursing homes, financial records show some owners routinely push profits to sister companies while residents are neglected.

Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.

The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services gives facilities an overall star rating along with details on health care, staffing and quality at its Care Compare website.

The investigations into select nursing homes are aimed at verifying whether patients have been properly diagnosed with the psychiatric disorder.

Deputy Executive Director Bob Asztalos of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs told a state Senate committee that its wages are finally competitive, thanks to a $5.6 million boost in funding last year.

But as assisted living concept has become more popular, residents are now older and sicker than in the past, and a panel of experts is calling for more focus on their medical and mental health needs.

The intensified scrutiny comes nearly two years after COVID-19 exposed subpar care and extreme staffing shortages that had long festered in the facilities.

Older people with limited mobility and chronic health conditions requiring the use of electrically powered medical devices were especially vulnerable. Experts are warning such risks to society’s oldest are growing as disasters increase amid climate change.

Residents from nine facilities still shuttered are staying in nearby skilled nursing centers, where staff are working to make them feel comfortable and monitor for "transfer trauma."

Private Medicare Advantage health plans are increasingly ending coverage for skilled nursing or rehab services before medical providers think patients are healthy enough to go home, doctors and patient advocates say.