Mid-MO’s Worst Nursing Homes 2
If money is the source of the problem, ABC 17 News asked if it could also be the solution.”I don’t want to build another building on MU’s campus until our seniors are taken care of,” said Dolan.However, advocates are talking about a different kind of money and a different kind of solution.”If there is abuse happening or neglect, there should be steep fines levied against those facilities,” said Dave Damico of the Missouri Coalition for Quality Care. “Or steep sanctions. And I’m just not seeing it.”In the past year, nearly a dozen bills were proposed in Missouri involving long-term care. However, none of them would have imposed more regulation on the homes themselves.Filing opens in just 15 days and Jefferson City political sources do not expect any kind of elderly care bill this session.ABC 17 News asked the Missouri Health Care Association if more regulation is needed.”I let the health care professionals tell me that,” said Dolan. “The medical director and the nurse in the facility, in the care assessment of each individual needs to be appropriate for the type of facility.”If the industry requires change, now is the time. Baby boomers are already rushing toward retirements an din the face of a trillion dollar deficit, there may not be money to take care of them.”It seems like, in society, we go to great lengths to protect children, but we forget about the elderly,” Damico said.”There aren’t more 16-year-olds getting drivers licenses, there aren’t more 21-year-olds thinking about going to their first happy hour and there certainly aren’t any more babies being born than there are right now people turning 85,” said Dolan.Industry experts and advocates agree that the best way to find a nursing home for your loved on is to do your own research. In Missouri though, the research may not be easy. ABC 17 News has been working to get citations, complaints and fine amounts from the State Department of Health and Senior Services for weeks, but the department has not helped in our research for this story.Anyone who has witnessed a problem at a nursing home can call the Elderly Abuse/Neglect Hotline at 1-800-392-0210.
