BELOW AVERAGE KENTUCKY NURSING HOMES: Is your loved one in nursing home that falls below average?

Ten nursing homes in Kentucky, including one in Lexington, are among the most poorly performing in the United States, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office which provides oversight of federal agencies for Congress.  The nursing home receiving the worst scores in Kentucky was also the second most poorly performing nursing home in the United States. Only 15 states had more poorly performing nursing homes than Kentucky, according to the report. Records show that some of the Kentucky nursing homes named in the report as being the worst had also been cited by state inspectors for creating a substantial risk of death or serious physical harm to residents.

Three Kentucky nursing homes are on both the GAO list and a list of chronically troubled nursing homes compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They are Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Complex-Madison — also known as Madison Manor — Britthaven of Somerset and Cambridge Place in Lexington.

Chain-affiliated homes

Using federal data from December 2008, the GAO found seven more nursing homes in Kentucky that performed poorly than the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated its list in October, saying that Britthaven and Cambridge had shown improvement but that Madison Manor had not shown any improvement in its most recent inspection in June.

Madison Manor is the Richmond nursing home where in 2008 the abuse of a resident was caught on a video camera hidden by her family.

Cindi Simpson, regional director of operations for the nursing home corporation Extendicare, which owns Madison Manor, said this week that Madison Manor and another nursing home on the GAO list, Salyersville Health Care Center, are now in substantial compliance with state and federal regulations.

"While we recognize both centers have had regulatory inconsistencies in the past, we firmly believe in providing high-quality care," said Simpson.

The GAO report said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should do a better job of identifying the most poorly performing homes. The GAO said the nursing homes tended to be chain affiliated and for-profit, have more beds and residents than others, and have registered nurses spending fewer hours with residents each day.

Nationally, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had only 136 on its list compared with 580 nursing homes on the GAO list.

If you believe a loved one has been mistreated in a Kentucky Nursing Home contact Matthew White at mwhite@grayandwhitelaw.com for a FREE CONSULTATION.