The federal agency that regulates nursing homes must take more aggressive steps to prevent and respond to violent crimes and other forms of abuse in senior care facilities, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Minnesota Democrat cited a five-day, Star Tribune special report published this month that detailed repeated failures by regulators to investigate incidents of criminal abuse in senior care homes across Minnesota.
The report found that hundreds of vulnerable residents at senior care centers are beaten, sexually assaulted or robbed each year. Yet the vast majority of these incidents are never investigated, and the perpetrators typically go unpunished. The series also highlighted how abuse victims and their families are often kept in the dark, for months or even years, as state investigations drag on indefinitely and facilities keep the incidents secret.
Klobuchar also asked U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, head of the Government Accountability Office, to review federal nursing home regulations and recommend changes to current practices at HHS and federal law that would better protect senior citizens from abuse. She suggested that new federal standards could reduce the long delays associated with many maltreatment investigations and require that families be notified within a set timetable after an incident of abuse.
"There are clearly major, major problems that are resulting in serious injuries, rip-offs and even deaths," Klobuchar said in an interview. "We need to look at everything from the timeliness of the [abuse] investigations, to the notification of family members, to our federal laws … and come up with some solutions."
Klobuchar's statement comes amid a wider call for reform at the State Capitol. Earlier this month, Gov. Mark Dayton also responded to the Star Tribune series, announcing that he would create a cabinet level task force to address shortfalls in the state's effort to protect elderly residents from abuse. Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Mary's Point, chairwoman of the Senate Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee, said she is working on a package of reforms with input from elder advocacy groups.
Last year, the Minnesota Department of Health received more than 25,000 allegations of neglect, physical abuse, unexplained serious injuries, and thefts in state-licensed homes for seniors. While the agency reviews each of these allegations, only 3 percent were investigated on site by state inspectors, records show.
In the rare cases when the state did investigate, the investigations would often drag on for months, undermining the ability of local prosecutors to bring criminal charges. The long delays also frustrate victims and their families, and make it difficult for them to move on with their lives, the Star Tribune found.
