Nursing home ownership affects resident care
Researchers say that when an investment firm buys a nursing home, resident deaths increase.
A recent expose on investment firm Portopiccolo Group shines a light on how investors can take a nursing home from "pristine" to squalor in a very short time. Indeed, nursing home abuse and neglect can happen anywhere.
The New Yorker investigation seems to support the University of Pennsylvania's research into nursing home ownership and resident care. "Going to a private equity-owned nursing home," the study says, "increased individuals' short-term mortality by 10% during and for 90 days after the nursing home stay."
Nursing home abuse and neglect are too common at facilities that are supposed to take care of vulnerable older adults. In Georgia, nursing home abuse and neglect victims and their families can turn to Kurle Justus, LLC, for help. Our Decatur nursing home abuse lawyers have the experience to get to the bottom of a nursing home's operations and collect strong evidence of its recklessness.
If you know or suspect a loved one is being abused or neglected at a Georgia nursing home, contact us for a free case consultation. At no cost to you, we can answer your nursing home abuse-related legal questions and help you decide your next steps.
Making profits, destroying services
Before Portopiccolo bought the facility in 2019, St. Joseph's Home for Aging in Virginia appeared to be a nice place, according to The New Yorker. There was an aquarium and a bird aviary. Tasty cuisine, like salmon with lobster sauce and Reuben sandwiches, was served several times a day.
That all changed with new ownership, residents and their loved ones say. Unlike the previous owners, a church, Portopiccolo, was there to increase profits by destroying services.
Within a few weeks, amenities were gone, and the facility's name was changed to KarolWood Gardens. Staffing levels were severely reduced, the article says. Some mornings there would only be two nurse's aides working in a facility with 72 beds. Other times, the facility was so short-staffed that they didn't bother to open the dining hall, and residents had to eat in their rooms. (Portopiccolo denies making cuts during the "transition.")
Care standards plummeted according to cited examples like:
- When morning orderlies came to change them, some residents wore briefs so saturated with urine that they had turned brown.
- One woman hadn't had her hair washed in months.
- Another resident hadn't been bathed in 7 days.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Portopiccolo over allegations of abuse and neglect at a different nursing home the group owns.
Signs of nursing home abuse and neglect
Portopiccolo does not appear to own any nursing homes in Georgia. However, nursing home abuse and neglect can happen in any facility, but it's not always easy to spot. Sometimes abused residents are too afraid to say anything or don't understand or remember what is happening. Signs that a nursing home resident may be suffering abuse include:
- Unexplained bruises and injuries.
- Falls.
- Sudden weight loss.
- Unexplained mood changes.
- Missing money or unexplained charges. (Financial exploitation is common among nursing home residents)
- Unexplained medical problems.
- Visit and communication restrictions.
- Bedsores.
Take action to stop nursing home abuse
If you suspect or know of a loved one being abused or neglected at a nursing home, it is important that you take action right now. That person is at high risk for serious and life-threatening injuries and illnesses.
Contact Kurle Justus, LLC. Tell us what's going on. Then, at no cost to you, a member of our team can let you know if you have a case. Our Decatur nursing home abuse attorneys can help you get justice as well as compensation from the nursing home or other long-term care facility.
Our law firm is located in Decatur and serves all of Georgia. We are available to hear from you anytime, day or night. Contact us to schedule your free case consultation today.