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Kentucky Nursing Home Inspections Reveal Hundreds of Deficiencies

May 25, 2010 - According to reports obtained by the Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, state inspectors found 209 deficiencies in 36 Kentucky nursing homes since January 1, 2010. While none of the issues were severe enough to warrant closing the facility, they do highlight the shortcomings of the nursing homes we trust to support our elderly population.

Seven of the nursing homes surveyed were found to have more than 10 deficiencies each. The Kentucky nursing homes with the most recorded deficiencies (along with the number of deficiencies) in the latest nursing home survey include: 

• Ridgewood Terrace Nursing Home, Madisonville - 14
• Lexington Country Place, Lexington - 13
• Britthaven of Pineville, Pineville - 12
• Florence Park Care Center, Florence - 12
• Arbor Place of Clinton, Clinton - 11
• Hazard Nursing Home, Hazard - 10
• Rose Manor Health Care, Lexington - 10 

According to the Office of Inspector General in the Cabinet for Health Family services, Kentucky's nursing homes must be surveyed for these deficiencies at least once every 15 months, with the statewide average interval between surveys at 12 months or less.

In 2008, the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services conducted their own survey of Kentucky nursing homes and found deficiencies in 87.6% of them. "Deficiencies" can cover a variety of issues at the nursing home ranging from proper garbage disposal to what policies the homes have in place to combat elderly abuse and neglect.

Kentucky currently has 72 state inspectors assigned to survey nursing homes, which is less than in years past, but luckily the funding for these important programs has increased. Hopefully this will ensure that Kentucky nursing homes will continue to be regularly monitored for unsafe or abusive conditions.

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